New Swell On Us

The next in this long series of winter swells, predicted to make landfall for the weekend, is on us. Faraway buoy readings began recording 20+ second periods at 9PM last night. The nearshore buoy started showing forerunners at 7AM indicating 8.5' at 21.1 seconds WNW. SoCal should see solid winter energy and direction by Saturday morning.

My weekend is booked with Women of Vision projects I promised I'd help with, but I may be able to grab some waves Saturday afternoon late or evening, and Sunday late. Updates when and if I get 'em.

NOTE: Long range surface pressure and wind model animation is showing a breakdown of the high pressure that has kept the storm track north of us, and helped to provide all the great wave action this past week. If the model predictions are correct then we may see some rain and a return to the wet weather by next Thursday morning.

UPDATES: I returned from the Valley early enough to get some pics of this big swell before dark. Buoy has been holding steady at 19-21 seconds and 10 feet throughout the day. Best time to surf was this morning before 9:30AM when the southeast wind came up and degraded conditions, although I'm sure plenty of hardy big surf enthusiasts got some good waves today. A band of fog is sitting offshore and will probably make landfall sometime tonight. No doubt it will be blanketing the coast tomorrow morning, making for dangerous conditions in big surf. All should be wary and assess their abilities realistically.