Huge West for the Weekend

Macking storm about to come onshore with ferocious south winds, heavy rain - the whole deal. Saturday should be good and trashed - as a huge West swell builds in. Sunday and Monday - winds look much cleaner. Look for swell in the 14-19ft range Sat/Sun with periods in the 12-16 sec band - from 260-270. Sunday morning might be nice at some of the protected breaks that like a light nw flow. I'm off to Rincon tonight to surf with 1000 of my closest friends in Santa Barbara and Slater. cya in the water.

Swell filling in, sticks around thru Weekend

Large West swell filling in today - in the 8-10 ft range at 15-17 seconds from about 285. This swell event will peak today, be on the downslope tomorrow (but still big at nw facing breaks). Look for another shot of West swell (270-300) to hit Thursday and stick around through Saturday. This will be back in the doubleoverhead range for Thursday and probably Friday, smaller Sat. Wind wise - light winds right now (in fact have turned to the NW at buoys) - and look for light winds Thursday morning before the south winds ramp up in advance of a large storm due to move ashore Friday into Saturday morning. Look for NW winds Saturday afternoon after front passage and probably light NW flow on Sunday morning. Sunday looks dry. Looks like we have more weather headed in next week as we move into March, traditionally the end of the Winter surfing season in Nor Cal. However, this year with El Nino still in force - look for waves to continue as the storm corridor stays open probably well into April. This should also fuel the southern hemi action in April. I've tracked about 26 storm/swell events this Fall/Winter - which is about on par for a mild El Nino year. I think by now we all realize how good any size El Nino is for surf around these shores. Wouldn't it be nice if it keeps our wonderful spring time nw winds in check this year? cya in the water and thanks to Sean for the nice OB picture.

Storm Door Opens

Look for wet weather to return on and off through most of next week. Forecast models hint at wetter storms as we get towards next Wed/Thurs. So we will have periods of on and off again west,south wind/se winds and probably some nw winds behind passing fronts. Swell wise - things will pick up tomorrow - with surf well overhead (8-12ft) - but probably sloppy with the increasing winds out of the west. Next possible decent wind window looks like Tuesday morning with some ene winds forecast. Look for surf to stay up through the coming period - solid at nw facing breaks - talking 8-10 ft range. Keep an eye on this blog - check the marine, wind and buoy forecast links and you might find some windows of opportunity to snag a few waves now and then. ***FORECAST NOTE: SF BUOY IS UP AND RUNNING AGAIN. Thanks NOAA. Papa and CA buoys are still offline. cya in the water.

Nice weather next few days.....

High pressure is protecting us from the storm track (for now). Look for light winds in the mornings, fog through at least Thursday. Then by Friday the storm door opens and looks to stay open through the middle part of the following week. Swell wise - our current run of big WNW swells will wind down towards the end of the week - with mortal size waves even by Thur/Fri at the nw facing beaches. Look for the surf to start increasing in size again over the weekend and into next week as swell trains land ashore in advance of all the storm activity due to pop up in the Pacific. cya in the water.

Big Surf for Weekend

By now you know Mavs is running tomorrow. Good for them - probably the last shot they'll have at a decent swell with light winds for a while. For the rest of us - it's getting big today - dble overhead already at nw facing breaks and will stay big thru Saturday. Light winds are forecast in the morning - probably with some residual south chop on the surface from this passing storm. Next week - all week - looks dry right now - for a change. So i'll update on the winds for next week on Sunday. We will probably have something to ride everyday next week as well. Get on it tomorrow at a break protected from the full impact of this incoming swell train and you'll have fun.
cya in the water.

Another Unsettled Week

More rain, on and off thru the week. Looks like a break on Wednesday - and then possibly next weekend another break. In between, rain and wind switching between S and NW - no offshore winds forecast this week. Swell wise - surf looks to stay in the overhead range at nw facing breaks most of the week - larger swell event due for Friday - more in the 8-12ft range. Like it's been for several weeks now - a lot of weather, swell, and perhaps some breaks in the weather with good surf windows. Stay on top of the forecast links on the blog. El Nino in full control of all the action in the North Pacific for some time to come. cya in the water.

Unsettled Week Ahead....

Rain returns late this week and could get heavy at times from Thursday thru next weekend. Swell-wise - we have a new W/NW that builds in Tues/Wed - with sets going back in the double overhead range at standout nw facing breaks. Winds look light SE next cple days in the mornings. As we get into the second half of the week, look for increasing south winds right through the weekend. Next shot of larger swell will also come in Friday-Sunday. So, keep an eye on the winds, might be another one of those weeks where you'll get surf window here and there. I'm off to Mexico Thursday to Monday and won't be updating the blog. cya in the water.