Marie Rocks, More Southwest Swell to continue

A summer swell for the ages - that's been the tale of Marie.  Reports up and down the CA Coast of point breaks, nooks, crannies that rarely roar to life in the winter, let alone summer, but that's what you get with a large hurricane swell directed well at CA.  Decent size continues today, will fade some into the weekend.  Still seeing 4-6 ft 12-13 sec from 160-180 - swell is turning more SW.  We will have a new southwest swell join the party over the weekend - from around 215, much smaller than the Marie swell with deepwater probably in the 2-3ft range.  Then, looks like we will see a bigger southwest swell move in during the middle of next week (Sep 4-5) with possible deepwater heights again of 4 ft.  17-19 seconds from 201-215.  All signs now continue to indicate we will have some form of El Nino this winter - the strength of which is still tbd.  More on that as we move into Fall.  Sep 1 marks the start of the Fall/Winter Season in Nor Cal.  You've made it through another summer.  Cya in the water.

Hurricane Marie

All eyes on Hurricane Marie tonight - a Category 5 - at present 500 miles south of the tip of Baja.  Winds are 120 kt with gusts to 140kt.  Marie is generating seas as high as 48ft.  Right now the storm is moving to the northwest and should send huge surf to So Cal beaches starting late tomorrow and a very powerful southerly swell for us mid week.   We've had swell from TS Lowell and Karina since mid week - and that's been in the 3-4 ft range deep water.  Expect the swell from Marie to be larger.  Right now look for swell to build late Wednesday and last through the upcoming weekend.  Starting out south/southeast 170-180 - then late in the week switching more south/southwest - 180-210.  Winds look fairly light most of the week - from the west and northwest - perhaps a touch more northwest wind Wed to Fri.  Cya in the water.

Tropical Swell for the weekend

TS storms Lowell and Karina are in the Nor Cal swell window and you can expect to see swell move in tomorrow from Lowell (180 degrees) with more southwest swell (180-210) from Karina later in the weekend.  The East Pac is very active with another system due to become a TS in the next 48 hours.  We should see waist to shoulder high surf with some bigger sets at spots with good southerly exposure. Fog and onshore winds remain - probably lightest in the mornings.  A storm system diving into the Great Basin over the weekend could bring some offshore winds to the far North Bay - but probably not enough at the surface to mix things out.  This pattern of tropical systems is a strong indication of how warm the ocean is throughout the Pacific Basin.  If both systems re curve to the northeast and link up with the westerly jet stream - we would see some enhancement and swell development in the Gulf later next week.  The energy is out there - now just really waiting on Fall to kick in.  Cya in the water.

4.5 ft at 14 sec

Early season northwest swell arrived last night - deep water showing 4-5 ft with periods 14 sec.  Winds are actually a bit east/offshore at some spots this morning.  Nice warm up for September.  cya in the water.

Early Signs…..

Signs of the coming season ahead this week.  Early season storm in the Gulf of Alaska has sent off a pulse (285-310) which is due to show Tuesday AM far North and Bay Area Tuesday PM (largest late in the day).  Probably good for chest high waves, maybe some bigger sets at breaks with a good window to the west/northwest.  Biggest waves found far north.  Swell should peak on Wednesday and then fade out.  NW windswell will be in the water the entire time so don't expect super clean conditions.  Fog, onshore winds remain as well with low pressure right off the coast increasing the depth of the marine layer.  Cya in the water.