San Diego Surf Forecast: Waves for the weekend

Saturday and Sunday are both going to be surf days, nothing special sizewise, but clean through the mornings and with a few chest-shoulder high waves at the top spots.

We are going to have a mix of S-SW swell (170-220), some of which is fading energy from the work week as well as some new reinforcement swell from the Southern Hemisphere. The swell does start to trail off a touch on Sunday but there will be a little more pulse from the SW creeping up again on Monday.



Sizewise we can expect most spots to average around knee-waist high, particularly as the tides get funky throughout the day. Top S-SW facing spots will have chest-shoulder high sets, but expect it to be on the inconsistent side and tide sensitive as well.

Winds look good for both days…mostly light and variable through the mornings with some moderate W-SW flow around 10-14 knots for the afternoon.

Like I said, nothing outstanding this weekend…just sort of an average workhorse sort of swell, playful if you can combine a well exposed spot with a decent tide. I would probably stick to your smaller wave gear, something fishy or longboardish, just so you can make the most of the downtime between sets and a few of the smaller spots.

Here are the tides…have a good one!

Saturday
12:39AM LDT 5.2 H
07:45AM LDT -0.3 L
02:25PM LDT 4.5 H
08:17PM LDT 1.9 L

Sunday
01:44AM LDT 4.3 H
08:31AM LDT 0.4 L
03:18PM LDT 4.8 H
09:47PM LDT 1.6 L

Adam Wright
Forecaster
Socalsurf.com

San Diego Surf Forecast - Thursday's crumblers

Thursday will be rideable but overall it isn’t going to be a “great” surf day…just sort of average, and in some spots below average. We are going to have a mix of peaking/holding S swell (170-180), some SW energy (200-220), and some local NW windswell. Unfortunately there isn’t a lot of SW swell in the water…and the S swell, by nature, is a bit more selective on what spots it hits…which is leaving a few gaps in surf out there. Check out the CDIP from this afternoon and you can see what I mean…



….those Dark Blue areas are not good.

On Thursday the S swell will come up a couple of notches and the SW’er will build as well. Most of the average exposed areas will be in the waist-chest high range. Standout S facing areas, mostly near North County, will be in the chest high range on the sets. It will still be a little inconsistent (and the morning negative low tide won’t help us out) so expect some wait between the bigger sets.

SD will continue to see some pockets of eddy texture. It won’t be super blown out or anything but there will be some southerly crumble on a few of the more exposed spots. Mostly we can expect variable to slight southerly winds for the morning and some NW winds around 10-15 knots for the afternoon.



I am not expecting a ton of fun out of the surf tomorrow. It will be rideable in the areas with exposure to the swell mix…but the best exposed spots will have some onshore crumble and extreme low tides that will hamper surf shape. On the plus side…these conditions are notoriously fluky…so I would keep an eye on things through midmorning, we might see things improve as the tide starts to fill in.

Here are the tides…

06:15AM LDT -1.3 L
12:45PM LDT 4.1 H
05:49PM LDT 1.9 L
11:43PM LDT 6.0 H

San Diego Surf Forecast: Wednesday gets a little more combo swell

Wednesday looks like another fun surf day...but like Tuesday we are going to need to look for the biggest waves at the better summer spots. Swellwise we are going to have a mix of a building S swell (170-180), some holding SW energy (200-220), and steady NW windswell.



The S swell is going to be a little on the steep side for a few spots...it will definitely be a more southerly, than SW’erly sort of swell...so if you plan on getting waves from it try and stick to spots that face true south and pull in the 170-180 direction. You can see the new swell starting to slowly blip up on the Oceanside Buoy this afternoon.



Wave heights are going to continue to run in the waist-chest high range for most of the average spots, which are breaks that have some partial exposure to the Southern Hemi swells, or really good exposure to the NW windswell. Top S facing spots, and excellent combo spots, will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some occasionally bigger sets on the lower tides.

Winds look ok...there is still a touch of variable eddy funk that sort of swirls up through the morning. San Diego and OC look like they might see some of it at times, but overall it shouldn’t be too bad. NW winds around 10-15 knots move in through the afternoon.



I think that we are going to see a few fun waves tomorrow...again nothing huge, or even all that consistent...just sort of playful on the set waves. The biggest surf will be in North SD and at a few of the better windswell breaks. I don’t think you should waste a lot of the $3.00-a-gallon (liquid gold that we have to pour into our vehicles) driving for surf...there should be plenty of rideable waves almost everywhere exposed to the swell mix. I would try and get on it early before the tides honk it up...if you end up paddling out a little later in the day bring a board that can handle a bit more water.

Here are the tides...

05:29AM LDT -1.6 L
11:57AM LDT 3.9 H
04:48PM LDT 1.9 L
10:51PM LDT 6.4 H

Adam Wright
Forecaster
www.socalsurf.com

San Diego Surf Forecast: Who ordered the combo platter?

Tuesday is going to be another fun surf day for San Diego thanks to a mix of cleaner morning conditions and a mix of swells from both local sources and the Southern Hemisphere. We are going to continue to see a mix of S and SW swells (180-220) as well as some steady NW windswell. None of the swells will be particularly big or consistent...but the combo breaks will do a good job of blending the swell mix into some playful peaks.



On Tuesday most spots will have surf in the knee-chest high range. Sets will be a little inconsistent but playful when they show. Standout S facing spots, particularly combo breaks, will have waist-chest high surf with some shoulder high sets. Since we have the wider range of swell directions we can expect similar sized waves throughout the County...but I would still plan on looking at the traditional “top spots” for the largest and most consistent set waves.



Winds will be similar to Monday...light and variable and clean conditions early in the morning, some light onshore texture by midmorning and early lunchtime, and then NW winds around 10-15 knots by the afternoon. Cloudy skies early morning will burn off to sunny skies through the middle of the day.

Overall we are going to have sort of a soft/playful day of surf. The best shape will be through the morning as we come off the early negative-low tide. Once the tide fills in it looks like semi-soft/mushy shape will be on tap for most breaks. We aren’t quite back to the need to take the small wave gear...but the wider fishier shapes might be more fun, and let you score more waves as we move into the higher tide by midmorning.

Here are the tides...

04:44AM LDT -1.7 L
11:11AM LDT 3.8 H
03:53PM LDT 1.9 L
10:01PM LDT 6.8 H

Have a good week...and remember to check out www.socalsurf.com for more forecast information on the rest of Southern California.

Adam Wright
Forecaster
www.socalsurf.com

San Diego Surf Forecast: Starting the week off right

The surf from the weekend will continue on Monday and will actually start to build slightly at a few of the better exposed S-facing spots.

We are going to have a mix of S-SW swells (180-220) from the Southern Hemisphere, and some steady WNW-NW windswell from the outer waters.

Most spots will continue to run in the waist-chest high range while the standout WNW/SW combo spots see some chest-shoulder high sets. Top S-facing combo breaks, mostly through North County, will have some head high sets as the swells combo up.



Winds look ok...sort of eddyish but not so bad that it will blow us out. Look for light/variable to light-S winds below 10 knots for the morning. WNW winds 10-15 knots return for the afternoon.

Like I said above...it looks like we are going to have fun waves for most spots with any sort of exposure. I would still keep an eye on the tides, despite the fact that we have swell in the water, since there isn’t enough juice to power through a higher tide. Reefs and Points will likely have the best shape but the beach breaks will be a good fall-back spot thanks to the combo of WNW/SW swell.

Here are the tides...

03:59AM LDT -1.6 L
10:26AM LDT 3.6 H
03:00PM LDT 2.0 L
09:12PM LDT 6.9 H

Have a good one!

Adam Wright
www.socalsurf.com

San Diego Surf Forecast: More waves for the weekend

Saturday and Sunday will be surf days…but conditions may be a touch on the blah side as the coastal eddy develops and strengthens over the weekend. We are going to have a playful mix of S-SW swell (180-220) that is pulsing in from a couple of different sources. We are also going to have some building WNW-NW windswell that will begin strengthening tonight (as winds in the outer waters build) but will peak Saturday, hold through Sunday, and then back down slightly for Monday. Overall it is going to look sort of like the CDIP from this morning but with more size.



Wave heights are going to hold around waist high for the average spots…maybe some chest high sets on the lower tides. The better combo spots through Central SD county and the top S facing breaks in North County, will have chest-shoulder high surf as well as some rare shoulder high+ waves on the lower tides. Looks like the WNW energy will peak on Saturday so the combo spots should be best then…and then the S-SW swell mix strengthens more on Father’s Day so the S facing spots should start to work a bit better and get a little more consistent.

Winds will be a touch funky at times as the eddy spins up. Right now it looks like the center of the eddy will hold just north of Catalina which means that San Diego will get light S-SW winds so you are going to want to find spots that have a little protection from that direction.

Saturday AM



Sunday AM



I still think that the points and reefs will have the best shape, particularly if they can handle the higher tides. Beach breaks will be fun too, but it looks like the bigger S swell may have carved out the sandbars in a few areas. I would probably plan on bringing gear that still lets you get waves in sort of inconsistent/swampy shape.

Here are the tides…have a great Father’s Day!

Saturday
02:30AM LDT -0.7 L
08:53AM LDT 3.4 H
01:18PM LDT 2.1 L
07:38PM LDT 6.4 H

Sunday
03:15AM LDT -1.2 L
09:41AM LDT 3.6 H
02:09PM LDT 2.1 L
08:24PM LDT 6.7 H

Adam Wright
www.socalsurf.com

San Diego Surf forecast: Friday’s Surf – Building combo swell on Friday

We will have more of a swell combo on Friday...there will be a mix of building SW swell (190-215 or so), leftover S-SW swell from earlier this week, and building WNW windswell. We already have a little more of the windswell in the water here on Thursday but this will continue to build through the day on Friday and looks like it is going to max out over the weekend. Check out the CDIP 3-day forecast...(take in mind that a lot of the “swell heights” will actually be quite a bit of short-period chop from increasing outer water winds...this isn’t a huge NW swell all of a sudden).



The increasing windswell (and increasing outer water winds) are sort of a mixed blessing...on one hand we are going to get some more cross-up to the southern hemi swells, which will make the beach breaks a bit more fun. But on the other hand the stronger outer water winds spin up the “coastal eddy” which means S-SW winds for many of the more-exposed areas and some steady crumble/texture at spots facing the wrong way.

On Friday...fortunately...it looks like the wind starts off slow...mostly light and variable in the morning with only a couple of small pockets of texture. Look for NW winds around 10-14 knots by the afternoon.



Surfwise we are going to see a lot of waist-chest high waves at the average exposed spots with some chest-shoulder high sets at the best combo breaks. The bigger waves will be more consistent in the afternoon as the mix of S-SW swell fills back in and the local windswell starts to build up as well. I would look for the biggest waves around Central SD county...most likely at the beach breaks and a few of the well exposed reefs.

I think that you should be able to find some rideable waves almost all S-SW facing spots...the NW windswell breaks will be a bit soft in the morning. The tides aren’t going to do a lot to help us tomorrow...so you might want to stick with breaks that can handle a little bit more water.

Here are the tides...

01:45AM LDT 0.0 L
07:59AM LDT 3.2 H
12:26PM LDT 2.0 L
06:53PM LDT 6.0 H

Have a good one!

Adam Wright
www.socalsurf.com