John Lyman
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NW SWELL HOLDS INTO FRIDAY, FADES SATURDAY, BUT MORE ENERGY HITS SUNDAY…OFFSHORE WINDS WILL STICK AROUND ALL WEEKEND.

SURF FORECAST OVERVIEW

NW swell (290-300) that filled in Thursday night is forecast to stick around through Friday morning before starting to slowly fade by sundown and continue to drop through early Saturday. Another clean WNW-NW swell hits Sunday (285-300) and this fades slowly Monday. A larger stormy, (at least more wintery), W-NW swell (275-300) will arrive with weather and winds around the middle of next week, but if things line up right there may be some surfable pockets…so at least keep an eye on it gets closer to forming.

SHORT RANGE SURF OUTLOOK

Saturday – (The swell shrinks, turns more NW’erly, but the conditions stay nice.)

Saturday will be a rideable day…and if you have a spot that can pull in the steeper NW energy it could even have a fun/playful session hiding in the better parts of the tide swing. Our surf for the morning will be made up mainly of the fading NW energy (290-300) that hit Thurs-Fri. There is another round of WNW-NW energy (285-300) that will start to push in new waves to the Santa Barbara/Ventura/North LA areas by the end of the day…possibly sneaking a set or two into the southerly counties around sundown…but I wouldn’t plan your whole surf day around that new energy showing before the sun sets. Overall sizewise we can expect the average WNW-NW facing spots to be in the waist-chest high range with some rare shoulder high sets. The standout NW facing spots will be more waist-shoulder high with some head high sets setting up occasionally throughout the morning. 

Winds/Weather: The nice weather is forecast to continue on Saturday…E-NE winds in the 5-8 knot range for most spots in the morning with some gustier winds coming down the passes and canyons (mostly in LA and Ventura). Look for variable onshore winds around 10 knots for the afternoon, with a chance for stronger onshore flow at breaks that don’t have that much wind protection.

Sunday – (Ooooo new WNW-NW swell filling in…and the conditions are forecast to stay nice.)

Another round of WNW-NW swell (285-300) arrives on Sunday, coming off a storm we have sitting in the Gulf of Alaska right now (Thursday Evening). This swell will actually be on the way up for all of the exposed areas by Saturday afternoon, but the meat of the swell doesn’t hit till after dark and the first really rideable waves won’t show until Sunday morning. By then I am expecting the surf at the average WNW-NW facing breaks to be in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high sets mixing in if you are surfing on a good part of the tide swing. The standout NW facing spots, in the normally winter areas of South Ventura, the South Bay, and South San Diego will have surf in the shoulder-overhead range with some inconsistent bigger sets, going a couple of feet overhead, hitting through the morning. 

Winds/Weather: The winds are forecast to stay nice on Sunday…starting offshore and chilly in the morning with E-NE flow around 5 knots. Things warm up…with air temps going a few degrees above the seasonal norms…while the winds shift more variable through midday and then eventually onshore around 10-12 knots at the more open beaches.