Socalsurf.com - Orange County Surf Forecast

Where did the forecast go?

2010-11-19T14:39:00.001-08:00

Hey guys…I know most of you already know where to find the forecasts now that they are over on Solspot.com…our new, much more powerful site.

But just in case some of you new visitors googled in…I wanted to make sure that you can find all of the new cool stuff. This blog isn’t updating the forecast anymore, all of that has been pushed over to the new site. Here are a few of the links that will hopefully help you find some waves (and hopefully good conditions too.)

For those of you that just wanted the forecast without any of the bells and whistles…The same ol’ Socal Forecast can be found here (this is the normal forecast for all of Southern California and generally gives you all the info you need to find surf for the next day)

http://surf.solspot.com/content/category/short-range-forecast

Here is the link to my long-range forecasts where you can find all the details you need to plan your surf sessions for the next several days, and some even longer range outlooks that can give you a heads up on incoming swells.

http://surf.solspot.com/content/category/long-range-forecast

Since the Southern California coastline is all jacked up (uh I mean unique)…we took the forecast and broke it down into a bunch of different “zones” that help to show how much swell, what sort of wind, and how the tides are going to affect the different regions.

Santa Barbara
Ventura
North LA
the South Bay
North Orange County
South Orange County
North San Diego
South San Diego

If that wasn’t enough we even put together a pretty comprehensive list of the surf breaks and beaches in each region. These aren’t surf reports, but they give very specific weather, wind, tides, water-quality, and a bunch of other cool stuff. When you first drop onto a spot page you will see “Current or Live” information, but if you click around you can find all kinds of cool stuff (like hour-by-hour wind forecasts going out for a full week…just the thing you need to plan a midday session if the winds lay down.) Check em out when you get a chance…

Santa Barbara County Spots
Gaviota State Beach
Arroyo Quemada
Refugio State Beach
El Capitan State Beach
Haskells Beach
Summerland Beach
Goleta Beach
Butterfly Beach
East Beach at Sycamore Creek
Hammonds Beach
Hope Ranch Beach
East Beach at Mission Creek
Sands at Coal Oil Point
Arroyo Burro Beach
Leadbetter Beach
Carpinteria City Beach
Carpinteria State Beach
Rincon Beach

Ventura County Spots
La Conchita Beach
Mussel Shoals Beach
Oil Piers Beach
Hobson County Park
Faria
Solimar Beach
Emma Wood State Beach
C-street
San Buenaventura Beach
Ventura Harbor South Jetty
Surfers Knoll
McGrath State Beach
Oxnard Beach Park
Hollywood by the Sea
Silverstrand
Port Hueneme Beach Park
Point Mugu Beach

North Los Angeles County Spots
County Line Beach
Leo Carrillo Beach
Will Rogers State Beach
Topanga State Beach
Malibu
Santa Monica Beach
Paradise Cove Pier
Zuma Beach

South Los Angeles County Spots
Venice City Beach
Dockweiler
El Porto
Manhattan Beach Pier
Hermosa Redondo Beach
Haggertys
Lunada Bay
Rancho Palos Verdes

North Orange County Spots
Seal Beach
Seal Beach Pier
Surfside Sunset Beach
Bolsa Chica State
Beach
Huntington Cliffs
Huntington City Beach
Huntington State Beach
Santa Ana River Mouth
Upper Jetties Newport
Beach
Newport Pier Blackies
15th Street Newport Beach
Wedge
Corona del Mar Beach
Laguna Beach Crescent Bay Beach
Laguna Beach
Aliso Creek Beach South Laguna

South Orange County Spots
Salt Creek Beach
Dana Point Harbor Baby Beach
Doheny Beach
Capistrano Beach
T Street San Clemente
San Clemente State Beach

North San Diego Spots
Church
Trestles
San Onofre State Beach
Old Mans San Onofre
Trails San Onofre
Oceanside Surfrider Way
Cassidy Street Oceanside
Tamarack Av Carlsbad
Ponto Carlsbad
Beacons Beach Leucadia
Moonlight Beach Encinitas
Swamis Beach Encinitas
Cardiff State Beach San Elijo
Seaside State Park
Del Mar San Dieguito River Beach

South San Diego Spots
Blacks Beach
La Jolla Shores
Windansea Beach
Pacific Beach Tourmaline
Mission Beach
Ocean Beach
Sunset Cliffs
Coronado Beach
Imperial Beach

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Tuesday - 3/30/2010

2010-03-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

WNW-NW swell (280-300) mostly holds on Tuesday while new WNW windswell fills in and the small SW swell fades out.

Average spots will be in the waist high range through the morning. The standout NW facing breaks will have some waist-chest high surf with some inconsistent shoulder high waves mixing it up at times.

Shapewise the onshore wind is going to be the biggest problem…but the high mid-morning tide isn’t going to do us any favors either. Look for cleanest conditions early in the morning…and then bumpy, choppy, shape from mid-morning on. W winds are supposed to get an early jump on things…starting off around 5- 10 knots for the morning and then quickly building into the 12-15 knot range by the afternoon. Patchy fog and cooler air temps will also be on tap throughout the day.

Here are the tides…

03/30/2010 Tuesday
04:06AM LDT -0.7 L
10:05AM LDT 4.8 H
04:00PM LDT 0.3 L
10:05PM LDT 5.9 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Monday - 3/29/2010

2010-03-28T16:21:00.001-07:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

New WNW-NW swell (285-300) will be arriving on Monday…mixing with a smaller but slowly building SW swell, and some increasing local windswell. Conditions will be clean for the morning but the high-tide swamp-thing will screw with the surf shape as it peaks around 9-10am.

Average spots will be in the knee-waist high range on Monday. The standout NW facing breaks and the excellent NW/SW combo spots will have some waist-chest high surf with some inconsistent shoulder high waves mixing it up at times.

Look for light winds…mostly variable below 5 knots for the morning. NW winds do start to fill in fairly early…picking up around lunchtime and we can expect them to top out around 13-15+ knots by the afternoon. Chance for some fog through the morning as well.

Here are the tides…

03/29/2010 Monday
03:21AM LDT -0.4 L
09:17AM LDT 5.1 H
03:27PM LDT -0.2 L
09:32PM LDT 5.8 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - Weekend Waves - 3/27-3/28/2010

2010-03-26T14:02:00.001-07:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Our mix of swells…the SW (195-215), the WNW-NW swell (280-300), and the local windswell will all be on the way down on Saturday and will continue to drop through Sunday. Conditions look great for the weekend…but the tides a bit fat in the morning…so we might end up in race between the dropping swell and the dropping tide.

On Saturday look for most spots to be in the waist high range with a few chest high sets sneaking into the better combo spots once the tide drops. The standout NW/SW breaks and the best combo spots will see some chest-shoulder high sets on the lower tides…but expect some long waits between the sets. By Sunday the surf will be in the knee high range for most of the average spots and just some very inconsistent waist-chest high sets at the standouts.

Nice beach weather this weekend…winds will be light and variable to light offshore for the morning on both Saturday and Sunday…the winds will stay light through the afternoons as well…just going variable onshore but staying around 10-12 knots for most areas.

Here are the tides…

03/27/2010 Saturday
01:47AM LDT 0.9 L
07:39AM LDT 5.3 H
02:19PM LDT -0.7 L
08:29PM LDT 5.0 H

03/28/2010 Sunday
02:34AM LDT 0.2 L
08:29AM LDT 5.3 H
02:54PM LDT -0.5 L
09:00PM LDT 5.4 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Friday - 3/26/2010

2010-03-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Friday will start off with slowly fading SW swell (195-215), some semi-shadowed NW energy, and a bit of local windswell. A new WNW-NW swell (280-300) and more windswell will fill in throughout the day helping to drive up wave heights at the winter spots as we head toward the afternoon.

Look for most spots to see surf in the waist-chest high range…a little inconsistent on the sets because most of the surf will be coming from the SW’er but still rideable when the waves do show. The standout NW facing spots, and the excellent South County SW spots, will have some chest-shoulder high surf a bit more consistently…and the top NW spots will see some head high sets by the afternoon as the new swell fills in a bit more. Shape will be a bit soft/swampy in the morning thanks to the early high-tide…so stick to the high-tide friendly spots if you can.

Winds start off on the light side early…mostly variable out of the North, which blows offshore for some spots and side-shore for others, with wind speeds generally below 10-knots. The wind switches around through the afternoon, eventually blowing out of the W around 12-15+ knots.

Here are the tides…

03/26/2010 Friday
12:55AM LDT 1.5 L
06:44AM LDT 5.2 H
01:42PM LDT -0.7 L
07:59PM LDT 4.4 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Thursday - 3/25/2010

2010-03-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

The SW swell (195-215) slowly fades on Thursday while a new mix of NW swell (290-300) and NW windswell build in throughout the day. Unfortunately it looks like onshore winds will start up pretty early…so expect some bumpy shape for the morning and some choppy nastiness by the afternoon.

The average breaks will be around waist high on Thursday…with a few chest high sets showing on the lower tide. The standout SW facing breaks and best combo spots will have shoulder-head high sets…maybe a touch bigger on the afternoon tide push as the windswell and NW energy pulse up.

W winds are expected to pick up early…likely coming onshore around 5-8 knots for the morning but building steadily into the 15-20 knot range by the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

03/25/2010 Thursday
05:41AM LDT 4.9 H
01:02PM LDT -0.5 L
07:31PM LDT 3.9 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - Weekend Waves - 3/20-3/21/2010

2010-03-19T17:12:00.001-07:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

The WNW-NW energy will drop off a bit more on Saturday but won’t completely disappear…the S-SW swell (180-200) will hold pretty steady, losing just a bit of size/consistency but still sending in some fun surf to the well exposed spots.

On Saturday the average breaks will continue to hold around knee-waist high with some inconsistent chest high sets showing at a few of the better combo spots. The standout S facing breaks and the best combo beaches will have surf in the waist-shoulder high range…with some inconsistent bigger sets that will sneak through on the good tides.

Sunday the S-SW swell will back down a bit more but a new WNW-NW swell (285-300) will fill in the background. Most spots will continue to see surf in the knee-waist high range…but the chest high sets will be less consistent as the Southern Hemi fades out. The standout S/NW combo spots will have surf in the waist-chest high range…but we can expect a few shoulder high+ sets mixing in on the lower tides.

Both days look pretty clean during the mornings. Expect light and variable winds for most spots and a few areas with some very light offshore flow. It looks like we will be fighting a bit of a marine layer…maybe even some patchy fog…so don’t be surprised if visibility isn’t always that good. The winds should stay on the light side through the afternoons on both Saturday and Sunday…but expect the sea-breeze to develop enough to driving some variable 10-12 knot onshore flow into the more exposed spots.

Here are the tides…

03/20/2010 Saturday
07:01AM LDT 0.4 L
01:05PM LDT 2.7 H
05:38PM LDT 1.9 L

03/21/2010 Sunday
12:19AM LDT 4.9 H
08:14AM LDT 0.5 L
02:56PM LDT 2.4 H
05:57PM LDT 2.3 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Friday - 3/19/2010

2010-03-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

The WNW-NW energy backs down on Friday but the S-SW swell holds steady…and even turns a touch more southerly which means more spots will be able to pull in some of the energy.

Look for the average spots to see surf in the knee-waist high+ range. Standout WNW/S-SW combo spots will be more in the waist-chest high range with a few bigger shoulder high+ sets sneaking into the best NW and SW spots on both ends of the county.

Look for mostly light and variable winds in the morning with some pockets of light offshore winds here and there. Look for variable onshore winds around 10-12 knots for the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

03/19/2010 Friday
06:07AM LDT 0.3 L
12:04PM LDT 3.2 H
05:17PM LDT 1.5 L
11:39PM LDT 5.0 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Thursday - 3/18/2010

2010-03-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

The combo swell of WNW-NW swell and S-SW swell will continue on Thursday…with the NPAC swell backing off slightly, while the S-SW swell gets a touch bigger.

Average spots are going to hold around knee-waist high with some inconsistent chest high waves on the lower tides. Standout NW facing breaks and excellent NW/S-SW combo spots will have more chest-shoulder high waves with some rare bigger sets mixing it up.

Look for mostly light and variable winds in the morning with some pockets of light offshore winds in a few spots. These winds will hold through mid-morning but then turn westerly around lunch and will eventually peak around 10-15+ knots by late afternoon. Look for cooler beach temps, with some overcast skies and possibly even some fog at times.

Here are the tides…

03/18/2010 Thursday
05:24AM LDT 0.2 L
11:19AM LDT 3.6 H
04:57PM LDT 1.2 L
11:08PM LDT 5.0 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Wednesday - 3/17/2010

2010-03-16T20:27:00.000-07:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast http://www.socalsurf.com/.

The swell-direction on the new WNW-NW swell is a bit too steep for most of Orange County…but it does have some longer-periods, which will help to wrap in some of the energy into the top NW spots (mostly in North County).

Most of the county is going to have to squeeze its surf out of the fringe energy of the WNW-NW swell and the smaller, but much better aimed, S-SW swell. Average spots are going to hold around knee-waist high with some inconsistent chest high waves on the lower tides. Standout NW facing breaks and excellent NW/S-SW combo spots will have more chest-shoulder high waves with some rare bigger sets mixing it up.

Winds and weather look pretty nice again on Wednesday. Mostly sunny skies with some light/variable to light offshore winds on tap for the morning. Variable onshore winds around the 10-14 knot range will develop through the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

03/17/2010 Wednesday
04:46AM LDT 0.3 L
10:41AM LDT 4.1 H
04:36PM LDT 0.8 L
10:41PM LDT 5.0 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - Weekend Waves - 3/13-3/14/2010

2010-03-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Saturday look for mostly small, tide swamped, surf in the morning. Most spots will be in the knee-waist high range with some rare chest high sets at the standouts. W-NW winds will get a jump on things pretty early so expect sloppier conditions moving in by midmorning and just getting worse as we head into the afternoon.

Sunday conditions clean up, though we will still have some tide issues in the morning. We will also see some new WNW-NW swell (285-300) mixing in with the new windswell and a slightly better pulse of S-SW swell. Wave heights will build into the waist-high+ range for most of the exposed spots and chest-shoulder high sets at the standouts. Winds will start off light offshore and then shift variable onshore around 10-13 knots for the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

03/13/2010 Saturday
01:40AM LST 1.2 L
07:32AM LST 4.9 H
02:12PM LST -0.1 L
08:16PM LST 4.3 H

03/14/2010 Sunday
03:10AM LDT 0.9 L
09:03AM LDT 4.8 H
03:33PM LDT 0.0 L
09:35PM LDT 4.5 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Friday - 3/12/2010

2010-03-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Just some NW windswell leftovers, background WNW-NW swell, and some inconsistent S-SW swell, on tap for Friday. Look for nearly flat conditions for the morning as we shuffle through the high AM tide.

Once the tide drops most spots will be in the knee high range off of this mix…but a few of the better NW facing breaks will have some waist-chest high sets. The best S facing spots will average around knee-waist high but there will be some inconsistent chest high sets sneaking into those breaks as well.

Look for NE winds around 5-10 knots for the morning with the potential for some 10-15 knot gusts near the wind-prone passes and canyons. Those winds shift to the NW around 10-15 knots for the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

03/12/2010 Friday
01:09AM LST 1.5 L
06:59AM LST 4.9 H
01:50PM LST -0.2 L
07:59PM LST 4.0 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Thursday - 3/11/2010

2010-03-10T15:53:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Exposed OC breaks will see a small swell combo made up of dropping NW windswell, some background WNW-NW energy (285-300) and some inconsistent S-SW swell (190-210).

Most spots will be in the knee-waist high range off of this mix…but a few of the better NW facing breaks will have some waist-chest high sets showing after the tide drops. The standout NW facing breaks will have some almost shoulder high+ surf sneaking in at times. The best S facing spots will average around knee-waist high but there will be some inconsistent chest high sets sneaking into those breaks as well.

Look for NE winds around 10 knots for the morning with the potential for some 10-15 knot gusts near the wind-prone passes and canyons. Those winds shift to the NW around 10-15 knots for the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

03/11/2010 Thursday
12:36AM LST 1.9 L
06:23AM LST 4.7 H
01:25PM LST -0.2 L
07:41PM LST 3.8 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Wednesday - 3/10/2010

2010-03-09T15:51:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Choppy NW windswell, weak WNW-NW energy and some background SW swell will be on tap for Wednesday. Sizewise we can expect surf in the knee high range for most areas and a few chest-head high+ sets at a few of the standout breaks.

More freaking wind on tap for Wednesday…WNW-NW winds 10-20 knots for the morning…with some stronger near 25-30 knot gusts setting up by the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

03/10/2010 Wednesday
05:38AM LST 4.5 H
12:55PM LST -0.1 L
07:23PM LST 3.6 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Tuesday - 3/9/2010

2010-03-08T15:13:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Choppy NW windswell, weak WNW-NW energy and some background SW swell will be on tap for Tuesday. Sizewise we can expect surf in the knee high range for most areas and a few waist-chest high+ sets at a few of the standout breaks.

A weak cold front moves through Monday night and helps set up some NW winds for Tuesday. Look for WNW-NW winds around 10-12 knots for the morning and then gusts hitting 15-25 knots by the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

03/09/2010 Tuesday
04:39AM LST 4.3 H
12:17PM LST 0.0 L
07:03PM LST 3.5 H
11:54PM LST 2.3 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Monday - 3/8/2010

2010-03-07T20:22:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Not expecting much surf on Monday…there will be a bit of local NW windswell and some inconsistent SW energy on tap for the morning but it looks like onshore winds will get a jump on things pretty early. There may be a very short window right around dawn but I wouldn’t spend much time/gas/hope on finding waves…basically I would only check it if you live a few blocks away. Sizewise we can expect surf in the knee high range for most areas and a few waist high+ sets at a few of the standout breaks.

Winds will be semi-variable onshore for the morning...possibly as low as 5 knots but still mostly onshore. Look for the winds to increase out of the WNW-NW 10-15 knots by midmorning and then nearing the 20-knot range by late in the day. Basically a hacked up mess by the afternoon. Good times.

Here are the tides…

03/08/2010 Monday
03:16AM LST 4.2 H
11:26AM LST 0.3 L
06:37PM LST 3.2 H
10:49PM LST 2.7 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - Weekend Waves - 3/6-3/7/2010

2010-03-05T16:05:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

On Saturday look for a mix of leftover WNW-NW swell, some new steep NW swell (295-300), and some SSW-SW energy (190-220). Most spots will be in the knee-waist high range while the standout combo breaks through the southern part of the county, where the SW energy shows best, will have some chest- high sets sneaking into the really exposed spots. Winds will be light through the morning but build out of the SW around 10-20 knots for late in the afternoon and bring in more rain for the evening.

Sunday the storm will still be lingering and it looks like winds will stay onshore for most of the morning. Expect about the same size as Saturday but with a little bit more W-NW windswell creeping into the well exposed spots. Expect variable onshore winds, mostly out of the S-SW, for early Sunday and then building NW winds 15-20+ knots for late in the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

03/06/2010 Saturday
12:31AM LST 4.8 H
08:28AM LST 0.5 L
03:18PM LST 2.6 H
06:31PM LST 2.4 L

03/07/2010 Sunday
01:41AM LST 4.4 H
10:09AM LST 0.5 L
05:53PM LST 2.9 H
08:36PM LST 2.8 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Thursday 3/4/2010

2010-03-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

The WNW-NW swell will be on the way down on Thursday while a small SW pulse fills in through the background. Even though the surf will be smaller than mid-week it looks like we will still have plenty of waves.

Average winter spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some inconsistent head high sets. The standout NW facing breaks, mostly through North County, will have some shoulder-overhead surf with some inconsistent bigger sets sneaking through on the lower tides. Best shape will be at points/reefs but a few of the more NW shadowed/SW-exposed beaches may have a bit more of a combo feel to them, which could be fun if the other factors don’t screw it up.

Winds will be NW around 8-12 knots for the morning, which doesn’t totally blow out everything…I wouldn’t spend a lot of time looking for waves but it could be worth checking those little protected nuggets in the morning. NW winds 15-20 knots will move in through the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

03/04/2010 Thursday
05:52AM LST 0.1 L
11:46AM LST 3.6 H
05:16PM LST 1.2 L
11:40PM LST 5.1 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - Weekend Waves - 2/27-2/28/2010

2010-02-26T15:56:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Saturday starts of slow and breezy thanks to the new storm front pushing through the region and most leftover swell in the water through the early part of the day. Really it will probably be a better morning to surf the pillow for a little longer. Expect S-SW winds 10-15 knots with some 20 knot gusts and more rain/thunderstorms and other nonsense.

By Saturday afternoon a new W-NW swell (275-300) starts to arrive and come up fast…though conditions still look pretty crappy. It is a little hard to tell how much energy will make it into OC before sundown but I do expect the wave heights to build considerably compared to the morning. Likely it will be shoulder-head high for many NW facing spots and some overhead sets at the standouts.

Sunday the W-NW’er will peak and winds will back down shifting more to the WNW-NW and holding around 10-15 knots for the morning. The surf will be solid in the head high to overhead+ range for most of the average spots and sets going a few feet overhead and bigger at the WNW-NW facing standouts. The tide is still pretty high in the morning but there will be a lot of energy rolling around and it will have a good shot at breaking through the extra water. Even with the winds there should be enough waves and swell that the more protected breaks will work and will probably be cleaner since they don’t have as much exposure to the wind and chunkiness of the swell.

Here are the tides…

02/27/2010 Saturday
01:38AM LST 0.9 L
07:37AM LST 6.1 H
02:29PM LST -1.2 L
08:37PM LST 4.8 H

02/28/2010 Sunday
02:26AM LST 0.4 L
08:23AM LST 6.0 H
03:03PM LST -1.1 L
09:10PM LST 5.2 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Friday - 2/26/2010

2010-02-25T15:31:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Our mix of WNW-NW swell (280-300) and background, but still fun, SW swell (190-215) will hold/slowly drop on Friday. The WNW-NW swell will be a bit shadowed for Orange County but the SW swell will show fairly well through the South half of the county. Right now it looks like the biggest surf will continue to show around North County…in particular around North HB…but there should be at least rideable, if not fun, surf on tap for the other areas.

Sizewise we can expect surf in the waist-shoulder high range for most exposed spots…standout WNW-NW facing breaks and the excellent combo spots will be more in the shoulder-head high range with a few overhead sets mixing it up on the lower tides.

Winds will be light and variable through the morning. Look for building S-SE winds to fill in around midday and then continuing to strengthen by the afternoon/evening. It looks like the heavy winds and rain will push in late after midnight and hold through Saturday.

Here are the tides…

02/26/2010 Friday
12:49AM LST 1.4 L
06:48AM LST 6.0 H
01:54PM LST -1.2 L
08:06PM LST 4.4 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Thursday - 2/25/2010

2010-02-24T15:27:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

New mix of WNW-NW swell (280-300) and background, but still fun, SW swell (190-215) will peak on Thursday. The WNW-NW swell will be a bit shadowed for Orange County but the SW swell will show fairly well through the South half of the county. Right now it looks like the biggest surf will continue to show around North County…in particular around North HB…but there should be at least rideable, if not fun, surf on tap for the other areas.

Sizewise we can expect surf in the waist-shoulder high range for most exposed spots…standout WNW-NW facing breaks and the excellent combo spots will be more in the shoulder-head high range with a few overhead sets mixing it up on the lower tides.

Winds/Weather not looking great tomorrow but it does look like it might be semi-manageable in the morning. General forecasts are calling for light/variable to a variable/westerly onshore flow around 10-knots in the morning. Hopefully this means that we will see cleaner conditions around dawn and then slowly building WNW-NW winds for midday into the afternoon, but keep in mind that there might be some texture/bump showing at a few areas. Look for NW winds 10-15+ knots on tap by the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

02/25/2010 Thursday
05:56AM LST 5.8 H
01:17PM LST -1.1 L
07:37PM LST 3.9 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Wednesday - 2/24/2010

2010-02-23T15:31:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Leftover WNW-NW swell (280-300) and weak SW swell will hold on Wednesday. The high tide will swamp us out early but there will be a few rideable waves at the spots that can handle a little extra water. Look for most of the county to be in the knee-waist high range. Standout WNW-NW facing breaks in North County and the excellent SW facing breaks in South County will be more in the waist-chest high range with some inconsistent shoulder high sets on the lower tides. Look for a bit of increase in size and consistency late in the day but don’t count on conditions holding together.

Clean conditions on tap for the morning with mostly light offshore winds for the county and a few pockets of light and variable flow at the more protected spots. Look for SW-W winds around 10-15 knots by the afternoon. Increasing clouds and a chance for rain late in the day.

Here are the tides…

02/24/2010 Wednesday
04:57AM LST 5.3 H
12:38PM LST -0.7 L
07:10PM LST 3.5 H
11:54PM LST 2.0 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Tuesday - 2/23/2010

2010-02-22T16:15:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Mix of fading WNW-NW swell and some background SW swell will be on tap for Tuesday. Look for most of the county to be in the knee-waist high range. Standout WNW-NW facing breaks in North County and the excellent SW facing breaks in South County will be more in the waist-chest high range with some inconsistent shoulder high sets on the lower tides.

Clean conditions on tap for the morning with mostly light offshore winds for the county and a few pockets of light and variable flow at the more protected spots. Look for WNW-NW winds 10-14 knots for the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

02/23/2010 Tuesday
03:44AM LST 4.9 H
11:54AM LST -0.2 L
06:46PM LST 3.1 H
10:44PM LST 2.5 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - Weekend Waves - 2/20-2/21/2010

2010-02-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

New W swell builds in on Saturday...eventually peaking Saturday afternoon and overnight into Sunday. Looks like mostly sloppy conditions for the weekend but there may be a little bit of a surf window early on Saturday morning.

Look for most spots to start off with some new chest-shoulder high+ surf as the swell fills in through the morning…the winter standouts will be a little bigger. As the swell peaks we can expect most spots to see surf in the chest-head high range with some overhead sets at times. The standout NW facing breaks, mostly through North County, can expect surf in the shoulder-overhead range with sets going a few feet overhead at times.

Saturday morning winds are forecast to be semi-onshore…but the models aren’t really all that certain. There is a chance that we will have light onshore S winds early in the morning, so there may be a few pockets of cleaner conditions at the protected spots. Look for W winds 10-20+ knots to develop by Saturday afternoon and hold through most of Sunday. It will be raining both days.

Here are the tides…

02/20/2010 Saturday
12:02AM LST 4.5 H
07:37AM LST 1.2 L
01:19PM LST 2.4 H
05:32PM LST 1.9 L

02/21/2010 Sunday
12:56AM LST 4.5 H
09:25AM LST 0.9 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Friday - 2/19/2010

2010-02-18T16:53:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Mostly weak waves on Friday morning…average spots holding around ankle-knee high with a few waist high sets sneaking into the top spots. The standout SW breaks, mostly through South County, will be more consistently in the knee-waist high range with some chest high sets sneaking through at times.

Winds will be S-SE around 8-12 knots for the morning and it looks like scattered showers moving in as we move throughout the day. Look for SW wind around 10-20 knots by the afternoon and periods of heavy rain.

Here are the tides…

02/19/2010 Friday
06:18AM LST 1.2 L
11:50AM LST 2.9 H
05:16PM LST 1.5 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Thursday - 2/18/2010

2010-02-17T13:27:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Leftover WNW-NW swell and small SW energy will continue to send in some rideable/playful surf on Thursday. It won’t be all that speedy/punchy even on the good sandbars/shallow reefs…there just isn’t much energy left in the swell mix…but we can still expect a few fun sections at the better combo breaks. Look for surf in the knee-waist high range for most of the average OC spots. Standout NW breaks and the excellent combo spots will see a few waist-chest high+ sets sneaking through on the lower tides.

Winds look good…mostly light and variable to light offshore for the morning. NW winds around 10-14 knots move in through the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

02/18/2010 Thursday
05:22AM LST 1.1 L
11:00AM LST 3.5 H
04:58PM LST 1.2 L
11:24PM LST 4.5 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Tuesday - 2/16/2010

2010-02-15T16:19:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

The mix of W-NW swell and weaker background SW swell will back down on Tuesday but there will still be plenty of fun waves at the well exposed spots. Most of the county is going to average around chest-shoulder high on the sets…but the better exposed combo spots will see some occasionally bigger sets on the lower tides. The standout WNW-NW facing breaks, mostly throughout North County, will be more in the shoulder-head high range with some overhead sets still pushing through in the morning. The surf looks fun through the morning tide push but may slow down quite a bit as the tide fills in…you may want to plan around that tide peak.

Winds look good…mostly light and variable to light offshore for the morning. NW winds around 10-14 knots move in through the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

02/16/2010 Tuesday
04:00AM LST 1.1 L
09:48AM LST 4.5 H
04:18PM LST 0.3 L
10:29PM LST 4.4 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - Weekend Waves - 2/13-2/14/2010

2010-02-12T16:05:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

New W-NW swell (275-300) and some new SW swell (200-220) will peak over the weekend…showing biggest by Saturday afternoon and on into Sunday. OC isn’t all that exposed to the WNW-NW mix…sure there are a few spots, particularly at spots in North County, that will do ok…but generally we can expect smaller surf than what the other, more exposed regions will see. Fortunately the SW swell will show pretty well throughout the county…so we will see a bit more of a combo than the other areas…which should keep us out in the water for both days.

Wave heights will be in the chest-shoulder high range for the average areas…with a few inconsistent head high sets showing on the lower tides. The standout WNW-NW breaks and excellent combo spots will have surf more consistently in the shoulder-head high range with some overhead+ sets showing as the swells peak.

Look for N-NE winds around 10-15 knots for Saturday and Sunday mornings. Afternoon winds will turn onshore out of the WNW around 10-13 knots, but may stay manageable at the protected spots.
Here are the tides…

02/13/2010 Saturday
02:22AM LST 1.4 L
08:18AM LST 5.4 H
03:14PM LST -0.5 L
09:22PM LST 4.1 H

02/14/2010 Sunday
02:53AM LST 1.2 L
08:47AM LST 5.2 H
03:36PM LST -0.3 L
09:43PM LST 4.2 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Friday - 2/12/2010

2010-02-11T16:59:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

New W-NW swell and a new background SW swell will be filling in on Friday…but don’t expect a ton of new surf through the morning. Most of the average breaks will be in the knee-waist high+ range for the morning…but a few of the South County standouts and the really good combo-swell sandbars at a few North County beaches will have some inconsistent chest high+ sets. As the tide drops and the swell fills in we can expect average spots to push up into the shoulder high range while the standout NW facing spots see some shoulder-head high+ sets.

Winds look good…mostly light and variable early and then just variable winds around 10-15 knots on tap for the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

02/12/2010 Friday
01:52AM LST 1.6 L
07:48AM LST 5.4 H
02:51PM LST -0.6 L
09:01PM LST 3.9 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Thursday - 2/11/2010

2010-02-10T18:38:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Fading WNW-NW swell will still put a few rideable waves into the well exposed spots on Thursday...it won’t be all that great, and we may have to wait out the morning tide, but there will be a few lines rolling through. Look for the average WNW facing spots to see surf in the knee-waist high range…the better WNW/SW combo spots (since there is a little SW energy out there) will be more consistently in the waist-waist high+ range. The top NW breaks, mostly through North County will have some chest-shoulder high sets on the lower tides.

Winds look good…mostly light and variable to light-offshore conditions early and then just variable winds on tap for the afternoon. If the winds can stay below 10 knots for most of the day there is a shot at some clean-up near sundown.

Here are the tides…

02/11/2010 Thursday
01:20AM LST 1.9 L
07:16AM LST 5.4 H
02:27PM LST -0.6 L
08:42PM LST 3.7 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Wednesday - 2/10/2010

2010-02-09T15:33:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Our surf will start off still in the playful sizes thanks to a mix of W-NW energy still holding on from the weekend as well as a little reinforcing NW pulse that has pushed into the background. Most spots will see surf in the waist-chest high range tomorrow with some shoulder-head high+ sets showing at the top NW breaks through North County. Look for cleanest conditions early in the day and increasing WNW-NW winds on tap for the afternoon. Points and reefs will have the best shape…if we had any real ones in North County…but good sandbars and the various structures that can break up a swell will be ok fallback places to check.

Winds and weather don’t look that great on Wednesday. The winds, even though they switch around Tuesday night don’t look like they are going to be super helpful but the shouldn’t be actively bad either. There will be some semi-clean conditions early…but expect periods of rain and onshore texture to pulse through as the storm continues to move through the region. Look for light/variable to variable-onshore flow for the morning. NW winds 10-20 knots will develop through the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

02/10/2010 Wednesday
12:43AM LST 2.2 L
06:40AM LST 5.3 H
01:59PM LST -0.6 L
08:22PM LST 3.6 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Tuesday - 2/9/2010

2010-02-08T18:52:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Our surf will start off still in the playful sizes thanks to a mix of W-NW energy still holding on from the weekend as well as a little reinforcing NW pulse that has pushed into the background. Most spots will see surf in the waist-chest high range tomorrow with some shoulder-head high+ sets showing at the top NW breaks through North County. Look for cleanest conditions early in the day and increasing WNW-NW winds on tap for the afternoon. Points and reefs will have the best shape…if we had any real ones in North County (maybe I should crash a big cargo ship into state beach)…but good sandbars and the various structures that can break up a swell will be ok fallback places to check.

Light and variable winds early in the morning but with building W-NW winds 10-20+ knots on tap by the afternoon as the next storm front moves through. Look for more rain through the end of the day as well.

Here are the tides…

02/09/2010 Tuesday
05:57AM LST 5.1 H
01:28PM LST -0.5 L
08:00PM LST 3.5 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - Weekend Waves - 2/6-2/7/2010

2010-02-05T17:40:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Surf on Saturday isn’t looking all that appealing. Current forecasts are showing pretty steady S winds and rain on tap for the morning and more through the afternoon. Overall wave-heights will be on the rise as more W-WNW storm/windswell moves in. Look for chest-shoulder high waves at the average exposed spots and some bigger head high+ waves showing by the end of the day.

Saturday winds and weather are looking a bit stormy with S-SE winds 10-15 knots showing across the county for the morning and then gusts hitting up around 20-25+ knots for the afternoon. Expect rain and possibly thunderstorms pushing throughout the day.

Sunday the WNW-NW swell and the W-WNW windswell are set to peak. Most exposed spots will be running shoulder-head high with bigger sets mixing in. Top NW facing breaks will be overhead+ and possibly a little bigger at the really exposed spots. Shape won’t be all that great thanks to steady WNW winds…

Sunday winds shift more to the WNW around 10-15 knots for the morning and gusts nearing 20-knots for the afternoon. Drier conditions overall but not much in the way of clean surf thanks to the new, lamer, wind direction.

Here are the tides…

02/06/2010 Saturday
02:37AM LST 4.8 H
10:45AM LST 0.5 L
05:37PM LST 2.7 H
08:57PM LST 2.5 L

02/07/2010 Sunday
03:54AM LST 4.8 H
11:58AM LST 0.1 L
06:54PM LST 3.1 H
10:44PM LST 2.6 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Friday - 2/5/2010

2010-02-04T16:02:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

At this point OC isn’t looking that great for Friday…winds will be onshore for many spots thanks to new S winds brewing up in front of the approaching storm. The surf will be fairly small to start as well…mostly knee high with some inconsistent waist high sets for the average spots and only slightly bigger chest high sets at the standouts. New storm-swell W-NW energy begins to move in late in the day but won’t put much new surf on the beach until Saturday.

Winds and weather are looking a bit stormy with S-SE winds 10-15 knots showing across the county for the morning and then gusts hitting up around 20-25+ knots for the afternoon. Showers are expected to push south through the day.

Here are the tides…

02/05/2010 Friday
01:29AM LST 4.9 H
09:07AM LST 0.8 L
03:06PM LST 2.6 H
07:30PM LST 2.0 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Thursday - 2/4/2010

2010-02-03T16:06:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Fun but fading surf on tap for the exposed areas of Orange County on Thursday. Our WNW-NW swell (280-300) will be backing off but we will continue to see plenty of rideable energy showing through the morning. Average WNW spots will be in the waist-chest high range with some shoulder high sets. Standout North County NW breaks will be more in the chest-shoulder high range with some less consistent head high sets. Expect to see smaller and less consistent surf as the swell mix fades through the afternoon.

Winds look good with mostly light and variable to light offshore flow early on. W winds 10-15 knots will build onshore in the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

02/04/2010 Thursday
12:33AM LST 5.0 H
07:31AM LST 0.9 L
01:08PM LST 3.1 H
06:40PM LST 1.3 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Wednesday - 2/3/2010

2010-02-02T18:16:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

WNW-NW swell will fill in and peak on Wednesday while the leftover SSW swell drops off…most spots will be in the knee-waist high range with a few chest high sets sneaking in on the lower tides. The top NW facing breaks, mostly through North County, will have chest-head high sets with a few bigger waves sneaking through on the lower tides.

Winds will be light NW-NNW for the morning…mostly below 5-8 knots. WNW winds build up to the 10-15 knot range for the afternoon. Cloudy skies and a little drizzle are on tap for most of the day.

Here are the tides…

02/03/2010 Wednesday
06:13AM LST 0.8 L
11:53AM LST 3.9 H
06:01PM LST 0.7 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Tuesday - 2/2/2010

2010-02-01T20:18:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

The surf will be on the smaller side for most of OC on Tuesday. The WNW-NW swell backs down a touch and the S-SSW swell backs off a bit as well. Look for knee-waist high waves for most WNW facing spots as well as the OK combo spots. The standout NW facing breaks and excellent combo spots will be more in the waist-chest high range with some rare shoulder high sets.

New WNW-NW swell starts to filter through the buoys later on Tuesday but doesn’t look like it will show much in the way of new surf before dark…but the afternoon sets might be a little more consistent.

Winds look good for the morning…mostly light and variable to light ESE. Winds shift more S-SW onshore around 10-12 knots for the afternoon. Chance of light showers developing overnight into Wednesday.

Here are the tides…

02/02/2010 Tuesday
05:09AM LST 0.8 L
10:56AM LST 4.8 H
05:25PM LST -0.1 L
11:47PM LST 5.0 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Monday - 2/1/2010

2010-01-31T15:48:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

The high tide slowdown hits again in the morning…with a small really early morning window opening up as the peak if the tide shifts back to 10am. The WNW-NW swell will be on the way down but the small S-SSW pulse will continue to sort of limp along in the background. Expect fairly small surf, for most areas (but not all) through the high tide peak, and then as the tide drops we will have some knee-waist high surf at the average spots and some chest-shoulder high+ surf showing at the top NW breaks and excellent combo spots.

Winds will be light ESE through the morning, and then light W around 10 knots for the afternoon…the bump doesn’t look too bad through the afternoon so we might see some cleanup through sundown if the wind behaves.

Here are the tides…

02/01/2010 Monday
04:13AM LST 0.8 L
10:05AM LST 5.7 H
04:48PM LST -0.8 L
11:05PM LST 5.0 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - Weekend Waves - 1/30-1/31/2010

2010-01-29T14:31:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

More high-tide lameness on tap for Saturday morning but we will have a few spots (that can handle the tide) pulling in some new surf from the building WNW-NW swell. Expect those areas to have chest-shoulder high surf with some inconsistent head high sets mixing in. As the tide drops we can expect more of the average WNW facing spots to move into the chest-head high range and the standout winter spots in North County to see overhead surf, even a couple of feet overhead on the biggest sets.

Sunday will have similar sizes (and a similar big fat morning tide)…so expect a bit of a slowdown early in the morning but then improving size, shape, and consistency as the tide drops off.

Winds look a little tweaky on Saturday…sort of light/variable to light onshore for the morning with more texture showing at the really open beaches. WNW-NW winds come onshore around 10-15+ knots for the afternoon. Sunday looks cleaner with light offshore flow for the morning and mostly calm to variable onshore flow holding through most of the day.

Here are the tides…have a great weekend…

01/30/2010 Saturday
02:30AM LST 1.2 L
08:31AM LST 6.6 H
03:35PM LST -1.5 L
09:48PM LST 4.6 H

01/31/2010 Sunday
03:20AM LST 0.9 L
09:18AM LST 6.2 H
04:12PM LST -1.2 L
10:25PM LST 4.8 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Friday - 1/29/2010

2010-01-28T17:15:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

We get pretty swamped by the tide in the morning…look for very mushy/shorebreaky shape for pretty much everywhere (of course with a couple of exceptions at the few breaks that like the extra water). Once the tide drops we can expect surf in the knee-waist high+ range for most breaks exposed to the fading WNW-NW energy and the small S-SSW pulse that is hanging in the background.

New WNW-NW swell (280-300) starts filling in later in the day…possibly helping to increase size and consistency a touch at the best NW facing breaks as we head toward the end of the day. I am not expecting a ton of new surf before the sun sets, but it will be worth at least giving the top spots some sort of check if the winds seem light.

Light and variable to light offshore winds for the morning. WNW-NW winds around 10-15 knots expected for the afternoon…possibly lightening up around sundown.

Here are the tides…

01/29/2010 Friday
01:40AM LST 1.4 L
07:44AM LST 6.6 H
02:58PM LST -1.7 L
09:13PM LST 4.2 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Thursday - 1/28/2010

2010-01-27T16:14:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

While the bigger WNW-NW swell is backing off we are going to see a little more energy out of the S-SSW on Thursday. This combo mix usually does pretty well for Orange County, particularly the well exposed beach breaks…one sucky thing is the high tide that hits early in the morning…it is really going to slow us down for the first few hours after sunrise. Fortunately the winds will be light enough that we can wait out while it drops.

Once the tide has evened out a bit I am expecting surf to be in the knee-waist high+ range for most spots…while the best WNW spots and the good combo breaks see chest-shoulder high sets. There may even be a rare bigger wave still sneaking around but expect them to be pretty inconsistent.

Light and variable to light offshore winds for the morning. Light winds, variable below 10-knots, will be on tap through midafternoon and then may back down a bit around sundown.

Here are the tides…

01/28/2010 Thursday
12:49AM LST 1.8 L
06:57AM LST 6.4 H
02:21PM LST -1.5 L
08:39PM LST 3.9 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Wednesday - 1/27/10

2010-01-26T11:21:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast it has more complete details on the incoming swell and regional conditions. Click here for the full forecast http://www.socalsurf.com/.

The WNW-NW swell will back down slowly on Wednesday while some small S-SSW swell starts to pulse in through the background. Overall it won’t be that great through the morning thanks to the high tide that pushes through early…that will keep things pretty soft and even the standout WNW spots have had a lot of the sand chewed up on the outside so it could be pretty shorebreaky as the tide peaks.

Once the tide evens out we can expect waist-chest high waves at the average W facing breaks, and the ok combo spots. The standout WNW-NW spots, mostly through North County, will have some chest-head high surf…and maybe a few more makeable corners as we start to see a little more swell combo.

Light and variable winds on tap for the morning with a little bit of onshore bump here and there. Look for building W-NW winds around 10-15 knots for the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

01/27/2010 Wednesday
06:07AM LST 6.0 H
01:42PM LST -1.2 L
08:07PM LST 3.6 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Tuesday - 1/26/10

2010-01-25T16:39:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Look for new WNW-NW swell moving in on Tuesday…some funky S winds and rain as well.

Average W facing spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some less consistent shoulder high sets. Standout WNW-NW facing spots, mostly through the North County, will have more consistent shoulder-head high surf with some overhead+ sets on the lower tides.

Winds will be out of the S-SE in the morning…not totally blown out early, but possibly a little bumpy in some of the more exposed areas. A few of the more protected spots will be pretty clean if the winds stay more to the SE. Rain and cool air temps will be on tap throughout the day. Look for the winds to shift around to the S-SSW around 10-15 knots by the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

01/26/2010 Tuesday
05:14AM LST 5.6 H
01:03PM LST -0.7 L
07:36PM LST 3.3 H
11:53PM LST 2.2 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Monday - 1/25/10

2010-01-24T17:35:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Monday looks fun…you know if you don’t mind surfing in water that looks like a bad case of the #3’s…the W-WNW swell will have lost a lot of size but it will probably make the beach breaks a bit more appealing, which in turn will let everyone spread out a little bit.

Most W facing breaks will be in the chest-shoulder high range…while the standout WNW-NW facing breaks through North County see chest-head high surf and a few overhead waves still mixing in. Expect slightly swampy conditions through the dawn patrol thanks to an early morning tide…but winds should hold off long enough to let the tide drop a little bit.

Winds look good for the morning but switch onshore out of the W-WNW around 10-15+ knots for the afternoon. Expect increasing cloudiness throughout the day…with a chance at some more rain/showers moving in on Tuesday.

Here are the tides…

01/25/2010 Monday
04:15AM LST 5.1 H
12:20PM LST -0.1 L
07:03PM LST 2.9 H
10:44PM LST 2.4 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - waves for the Weekend - 1/23-1/24/2010

2010-01-22T20:42:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Saturday will have some lump out in the water but it looks like winds may not be that bad for the morning…it will sort of be a toss-up weather the lighter/slightly offshore winds in the morning will be enough to groom out some of the stormy-swell bump. Look for consistent shoulder-overhead surf for most of the exposed W facing beaches…with smaller surf through the middle-south half of the county. The top WNW-WN spots in North County will have some consistent overhead-overhead+ sets…with a few bigger waves going a few feet overhead at times through the morning. Winds will be light through the morning but pick up onshore steadily through the middle of the day.

Sunday looks both cleaner and smaller…lots of W facing spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high sets at times. The standout WNW-NW facing spots, again through North County, will be in the shoulder-overhead range…and I still wouldn’t be surprised to see an overhead+ set now and then. Look for light offshore winds through the morning and mostly light/variable onshore for the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

01/23/2010 Saturday
02:05AM LST 4.4 H
10:13AM LST 1.2 L
04:13PM LST 2.3 H
07:30PM LST 2.1 L

01/24/2010 Sunday
03:09AM LST 4.7 H
11:28AM LST 0.7 L
06:17PM LST 2.6 H
09:08PM LST 2.4 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - for Friday - 1/22/10

2010-01-21T11:56:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

W-WNW swell will peak on Friday…though conditions don’t look particularly appetizing. Granted a lot is going to depend on how fast this last storm front moves through the area but at this point it looks like SW winds around 15-20 knots and more rain on tap for the morning. The winds eventually shift more W’erly by the afternoon but that won’t really help things that much. If the front stalls out we could see more SE flow in the morning which could at least set up some “potential” for cleaner surf at a handful of protected breaks.

Look for consistent overhead surf at the W facing spots with a few sets going a couple of feet+ overhead at times. The winter standouts, mostly through the HB Cliffs and the surrounding areas, will see consistent well-overhead surf with sets going double to almost triple-overhead and possibly bigger on and off throughout the day.

Overall the storm surf doesn’t look all that fun…but if you are willing to brave the poor water quality, and potentially hazardous surf, you might spend a few minutes checking out spots that can handle the mix of wind/weather/swell.

Here are the tides…

01/22/2010 Friday
01:12AM LST 4.3 H
08:27AM LST 1.7 L
01:25PM LST 2.5 H
06:44PM LST 1.7 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Thursday - 1/21/10

2010-01-20T14:57:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

More storm and more swell continue to pummel us on Thursday. W-WNW swell and junky stormswell will hit exposed areas pretty hard…continuing to push in large sloppy surf and poor conditions. Look for consistent overhead surf at the W facing spots with a few sets going a couple of feet+ overhead at times. The winter standouts, mostly through the HB Cliffs and the surrounding areas, will see consistent well-overhead surf with sets going double to almost triple-overhead and possibly bigger on and off throughout the day. Shape will be super trashed thanks to steady S winds and just the junky nature of the stormswell.

S winds around 15-25 knots will be on tap for the morning. Building S winds continue through the afternoon eventually topping out around 30-35+ knots late in the day. More rain and a chance for thunderstorms will likely be the case. If that wasn’t enough…Severe weather warnings, flash flood warnings, and all sorts of fun stuff will likely continue to be in effect throughout the day

Here are the tides…

01/21/2010 Thursday
12:30AM LST 4.1 H
06:54AM LST 1.9 L
12:01PM LST 3.2 H
06:16PM LST 1.3 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Wednesday - 1/20/10

2010-01-19T14:55:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Solid W-WNW swell holds strong through Wednesday…though it will be a little smaller in OC thanks to shadowing from the nearshore islands and Point Conception. Still the combo of S winds, rain, and stacked up stormswell will not lend to surfable shape…mostly it will just be plain nasty.

Look for consistent overhead surf at the W facing spots with a few sets going a couple of feet+ overhead at times. The winter standouts, mostly through the HB Cliffs and the surrounding areas, will see consistent well-overhead surf with sets going double overhead and probably bigger on and off throughout the day. Shape will be pretty trashed thanks to steady S winds and just the junky nature of the stormswell.

S winds around 15-20 knots will be on tap for the morning…possibly a little SSE in a few areas. Building S winds continue through the afternoon eventually topping out around 20-25+ knots late in the day. More rain and a chance for thunderstorms will hold through the evening and overnight into Thursday.

Here are the tides…

01/20/2010 Wednesday
05:48AM LST 1.9 L
11:12AM LST 3.7 H
05:51PM LST 0.9 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Tuesday - 1/19/10

2010-01-18T18:06:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

W swell will be on the rise on Tuesday but winds and weather will keep most spots from being all that rideable.

Look for consistent shoulder-head high surf at the W facing spots through the morning and some overhead+ sets showing at the standout WNW-NW winter spots in North County. More size and consistency will fill in across the county by the afternoon/evening.

S winds around 10-15 knots will be on tap for the morning…possibly a little SSE in a few areas. Building S winds continue through the afternoon eventually topping out around 15-25+ knots late in the day. More rain and a chance for thunderstorms will hold through the evening and overnight into Wednesday.

Here are the tides…

01/19/2010 Tuesday
04:57AM LST 1.9 L
10:35AM LST 4.3 H
05:28PM LST 0.5 L
11:56PM LST 4.1 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - Waves for the Weekend - 1/16 - 1/17/10

2010-01-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

The W-WNW swell mix (275-300) holds into the weekend…dropping just a touch on Saturday but then starting to creep back up on Sunday. Conditions look pretty good for mornings on both days…but watch for building S-SSE winds to move in (along with some rain) by Sunday evening.

Average W facing spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some inconsistent head high waves sneaking through on the lower tides. The standout WNW-NW spots, again mostly through North County, will be in the shoulder-overhead range with some inconsistent sets going overhead+ at times. Best shape will continue to show at the points, reefs, and a few of the beaches that have some sort of structure to break up the swell.

Weatherwise look for light and variable winds through early Saturday and only marginal onshore flow for the afternoon. Sunday will start out with light/variable winds as well but S-SSE winds and increasingly cloudy skies will move in through the afternoon. Rain will be coming as well but it looks like heavy stuff will start after sundown.

Here are the tides…

01/16/2010 Saturday
03:03AM LST 1.9 L
09:00AM LST 5.5 H
04:13PM LST -0.5 L
10:30PM LST 3.8 H

01/17/2010 Sunday
03:38AM LST 1.8 L
09:31AM LST 5.2 H
04:38PM LST -0.3 L
10:57PM LST 3.9 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Friday - 1/15/10

2010-01-14T21:03:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

The W-WNW swell winds down slightly on Friday but there will still be plenty of waves with lots of closeouts at the well exposed spots since there isn’t much to break up the swell. Look for the biggest waves through the North County winter standouts…and smaller, more playful surf as you move south of Huntington.

Average W facing spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range with some inconsistent head high waves sneaking through on the lower tides. The standout WNW-NW spots, again mostly through North County, will be in the shoulder-overhead range with some inconsistent sets going a couple of feet overhead at times. Like I said before…best shape will be at the points/reefs…with lots of closeouts and North/South current running along the beach breaks.

Look for clean conditions with E winds around 10-15+ knots for the morning and some gusts near 20+ knots near passes and canyons. It will be pretty chilly in the morning but hopefully it will warm up through the middle of the day. Look for light and variable winds through the afternoon…likely keeping things pretty surfable throughout the day.

Here are the tides…

01/15/2010 Friday
02:30AM LST 2.0 L
08:30AM LST 5.7 H
03:46PM LST -0.7 L
10:04PM LST 3.7 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Thursday - 1/14/10

2010-01-13T14:54:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

More W-WNW swell showing on Thursday…but again we will be a bit shadowed by the nearshore islands so our surf size will be a few notches below the other, more directly exposed regions.

Sizewise look for more surf in the shoulder-overhead range at the W-WNW facing spots. The top breaks, mostly through North County, will see sets going several feet overhead…and maybe bigger as the tide drops.

Wind will be ok/marginal in the morning…mostly light/variable but with some pockets of NW texture at the really exposed breaks. Look for these winds to increase to WNW 10-15 knots by the afternoon.
Light and variable to slightly offshore/sideshore winds set up clean conditions for the morning. The winds are set to improve by the end of the day…gradually shifting to the N or even NNE by the evening, so keep an eye on conditions…there is a chance for some clean-up around sunset. Hope you guys get a few…stay safe!

Here are the tides…

01/14/2010 Thursday
01:56AM LST 2.1 L
07:58AM LST 5.8 H
03:19PM LST -0.8 L
09:39PM LST 3.6 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Wednesday - 1/13/10

2010-01-12T22:11:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

The new W-WNW swell will be filling in fast throughout OC on Wednesday…the peak rolling through later in the afternoon, but plenty of waves on tap all through the day. Orange County is a bit more shadowed from this swell compared to other areas so expect smaller sizes. Unfortunately even with the shadowing it looks like the beach breaks will settle into lined up closeouts…which in turn will limit the amount of surf-space to the points and reefs that can handle the swell.

Sizewise we can expect surf in the shoulder-overhead range for most W-WNW facing spots. The top breaks, mostly through North County, will see sets going several feet overhead…and maybe bigger as the tide drops. Winds and tide will be an issue…we are back to the usual race of waiting for the tide to drop and risking the increasing wind…you can help yourself out by sticking to spots that can handle a little more water

Light and variable to slightly offshore/sideshore winds set up clean conditions for the morning. Some scattered drizzle and WNW-NW winds around 10-15 knots move in through the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

01/13/2010 Wednesday
01:21AM LST 2.2 L
07:24AM LST 5.8 H
02:50PM LST -0.8 L
09:13PM LST 3.6 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Tuesday - 1/12/10

2010-01-11T21:15:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

W-WNW swell will continue to push in to OC on Tuesday but will fade a couple of notches as the swell backs down. Look for the average W facing breaks to hold around chest-shoulder high. Standout WNW-NW facing breaks, mostly through North County, will have some shoulder-head high waves with some overhead+ sets still mixing in on the lower tides.

Shapewise the beach breaks aren’t fairing so well on this swell, lots of lined-up closeouts at spots with direct exposure. Points and reefs will continue to have the best shape, but there aren’t many of them with good exposure to the swell…so it will be one of those days where you have to sacrifice size for shape. I guess there are worse problems to have.

Winds look good…mostly light and variable to light offshore for the morning…then variable onshore starting around brunchtime and holding through the afternoon. Keep an eye on conditions around sunset…it looks like those winds may lay down as the sun starts to slip out.

Here are the tides…

01/12/2010 Tuesday
12:40AM LST 2.3 L
06:48AM LST 5.7 H
02:19PM LST -0.8 L
08:46PM LST 3.6 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Monday - 1/11/10

2010-01-10T14:48:00.000-08:00

W-WNW swell continues to show on Monday…even putting a few decent sized sets into the exposed areas of N. OC. Unfortunately most of this swell mix is coming in from a pretty WNW direction, which puts a lot of the South County into a swell-shadow cast by the nearshore islands as well as Catalina and San Clemente islands. Those shadowed areas, as well as the normally “average” spots will have surf in the chest-head high range, possibly even a few bigger sets sneaking through on the low tide. Standout WNW-NW breaks in the north half of the county will be in the shoulder-overhead range on the bigger sets, again with the potential for some bigger sets on the lower tides.

Winds look good with light offshore to light/ variable flow on tap for the morning…maybe even moderately offshore near some of the passes and canyons that funnel the wind around.. Look for the winds to increase and shift a little more WNW (onshore) through the afternoon before possibly laying down again near the sunset.

Here are the tides…

01/11/2010 Monday
06:07AM LST 5.6 H
01:43PM LST -0.6 L
08:14PM LST 3.5 H

Orange County Surf Forecast - Waves for the weekend - 1/09-1/10/10

2010-01-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Plenty of new waves moving into OC on Saturday…and even more coming through on Sunday. OC isn’t as exposed as some of the other regions but there will still be enough juice making it through the island blockage to make most of the W facing breaks work.

On Saturday expect the average W-WNW spots to see surf in the chest-head high range. The top W-WNW facing breaks through North County will be in the shoulder-overhead range with sets going a couple of feet+ overhead at times. On Sunday those waves will build up a bit more…the average spots will see shoulder-overhead surf with some sets going a couple of feet overhead at breaks with a bit more exposure. The top WNW-WN facing breaks, again mostly through North OC, will be in the head high to a couple of feet overhead range with some sets going several feet overhead at times.

Expect lots of closeouts at the beach breaks…so points and reefs will have the best shape (and the biggest crowds). Like I said in the full forecast…you are probably going to have to sacrifice some shape to get a lighter crowd…fortunately there will be enough waves that it should tire us out pretty fast, maybe help speed up the turnover at the best spots. (We can always wish can’t we?)

Winds look good…mostly light offshore for the mornings and just a light/variable onshore pushing through in the afternoons. Good chance for those winds to lay down around sundown on both days.

Here are the tides…

01/09/2010 Saturday
04:27AM LST 5.3 H
12:11PM LST 0.1 L
06:35PM LST 3.0 H
10:49PM LST 2.3 L

01/10/2010 Sunday
05:20AM LST 5.5 H
01:02PM LST -0.3 L
07:33PM LST 3.3 H
11:50PM LST 2.3 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Friday - 1/08/10

2010-01-07T23:10:00.000-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

New swell will be showing some waves in the morning, nothing huge, but coming up a bit from what we had on Thursday. Look for the average spots to run in the waist-chest high range while the standout North OC winter breaks (the WNW facing spots) will be in the shoulder high+ range through the dawn patrol.

By the afternoon the swell will have filled in a bit more and all of our W-WNW facing breaks will be in the rise for both size and consistency. Average spots will bump into the chest-shoulder high+ range while the winter standouts see some consistent shoulder-head high surf with overhead sets mixing in at times.

Winds look good…mostly light offshore for the morning and then light/variable to light onshore for the afternoon. Chance for some patchy fog too but most of it will likely hold off the coast until the winds start to shift around in the afternoon.

Here are the tides…

01/08/2010 Friday
03:29AM LST 5.1 H
11:05AM LST 0.7 L
05:05PM LST 2.8 H
09:39PM LST 2.0 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Thursday - 1/07/10

2010-01-06T17:11:00.001-08:00

Make sure to read the full region forecast...it will help this one make sense, (Not promising any miracles though). Click here for the full forecast www.socalsurf.com.

Mostly weak lines on tap for OC Thursday morning. Look for ankle-knee high surf at most breaks and a few waist –waist high+ sets at the best WNW standouts and excellent combo spots.

The swell does eventually filter in (after passing through about a million islands, seas of sharks with laserbeams on theirs heads and flaming ring of fire somewhere out there as well, which means it isn’t going to be all “that” when it first starts coming in. Look for the winter spots to start to see some more consistent waist-chest high waves with a few of the standouts seeing some chest-shoulder high sets.

Winds look good…mostly light offshore for the morning and just a light/variable onshore pushing through in the afternoon. Good chance for those winds to lay down as the sun sets.

Here are the tides…

01/07/2010 Thursday
02:30AM LST 4.9 H
09:38AM LST 1.2 L
03:06PM LST 3.0 H
08:33PM LST 1.5 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Wednesday - 1/06/10

2010-01-05T17:18:00.000-08:00

If you jumped straight into this page make sure to read the full Socal Forecast for more of a broad-scale look at our current swell/conditions, as well as the long-range forecasts.

www.socalsurf.com

The struggle to pull rideable waves out of our WNW swell mix and big tide swings will continue on Wednesday. Fortunately there will be a touch more swell and the tides are a little more manageable compared to what we say earlier this week. Most spots will be in the ankle-knee high range with some rare waist high sets. Standout North County NW breaks will be a bit more in the knee-waist high+ range with some inconsistent chest high+ sets. Expect fairly long waits between waves…and watch out for the midday high tide, even though it isn’t a full 6-footer it has still done a bang-up job steamrolling the shape.

Winds will be nice tomorrow…mostly light and variable in the morning with some pockets of offshore winds through the hills and canyons as you move into South County. Look for the winds to shift more WNW around 10-12 knots for the afternoon, but possibly laying down again in the evening.

Here are the tides…

01/06/2010 Wednesday
01:33AM LST 4.8 H
08:01AM LST 1.5 L
01:22PM LST 3.6 H
07:38PM LST 0.9 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Tuesday - 1/05/10

2010-01-04T22:32:00.000-08:00

If you jumped straight into this page make sure to read the full Socal Forecast for more of a broad-scale look at our current swell/conditions, as well as the long-range forecasts. (www.socalsurf.com)

Orange County is going to be a bit slow on Tuesday morning…the new swell won’t have filtered much energy down the coast early in the day so we will be working off a lot of Monday’s leftovers which were on the meager side. Average spots will start off in the knee to occasional waist high range, with soft shape, breaking close to shore, where is my pillow? Things do improve through the afternoon as the new swell fills in a bit more but we may have more issues with the tide and the afternoon winds to count on a decent afternoon session. I think your best bet is to give the cams a check a couple of times during the day, particularly as the tide starts to drop later in the day and see if the winds will hold down a bit more for us.

Here are the tides…

01/05/2010 Tuesday
12:40AM LST 4.6 H
06:34AM LST 1.6 L
12:06PM LST 4.4 H
06:50PM LST 0.2 L

Orange County Surf Forecast - For Monday - 1/04/10

2010-01-03T22:07:00.001-08:00

If you jumped straight into this page make sure to read the full Socal Forecast for more of a broad-scale look at our current swell/conditions, as well as the long-range forecasts.

www.socalsurf.com

Still some fun W-WNW swell lines sneaking in and mixing with some micro-combo S-SW swell on Monday. Nothing huge but at least rideable in most areas before the tide gets too high. Look for average spots to be in the knee-waist high range with some chest high sets through the dawn patrol.

The standout NW facing breaks, mostly through North OC, will be in the waist-chest high+ range pretty consistently through the morning and a few of the top spots will see some inconsistent chest-shoulder high+ sets at times. Look for all spots to have tide-swamp-ass issues as we head toward the peak of the tide around lunchtime.

Winds will be light/moderate offshore out of the E-NE around 5-10 knots and conditions look like they will hold together for most of the day…and even when they start to switch it shouldn’t blow bad enough to junk out the more protected areas too bad.

Here are the tides…

01/04/2010 Monday
05:21AM LST 1.6 L
11:06AM LST 5.3 H
06:06PM LST -0.5 L

Orange County Surf Forecast – Wednesday – Clean but a bit swell-shadowed

2009-11-24T15:27:00.001-08:00

The Swell
NW swell (290-300), some WNW-NW leftovers, and some small SW swell (200-220) will continue to hold on Wednesday...but may lose a little steam by the afternoon. The SW’er will actually show OK down in South County but don’t expect much from either part of the swell mix.

Waves
Look for most spots to hold around the knee-waist high range…a little inconsistent at times but still rideable at the more WNW-NW facing spots. The top combo breaks and good SW facing spots will be in the waist-chest high range.

Winds
Look for E-NE winds around 10-12 knots for the morning…strongest near the passes and canyons in South County. Winds come onshore out of the WNW around 10-12 knots for the afternoon but may lay down to light/variable by the end of the day.

Orange County Tides
11/25/2009 Wed
04:23AM LST 4.2 H
10:40AM LST 2.4 L
03:31PM LST 3.4 H
10:02PM LST 1.2 L

Orange County Surf Forecast – The Weekend – More surf and more reasons to blow off chores

2009-11-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

The Swell
Saturday starts off with mostly leftovers but a WNW-NW swell (280-300) builds in through the afternoon and peaks throughout the day on Sunday. Small, much less consistent, SW energy (200-220) holds in the background.

Waves
Saturday will have mostly leftover energy in the morning but should still be good enough for knee-chest high surf at the average exposed spots…top breaks will have some inconsistent shoulder high sets. The new WNW-NW swell will start to move in later in the afternoon but may have a hard time showing through the building onshore bump from the local winds.

The WNW-NW’er peaks on Sunday with consistent chest-shoulder high surf at the average exposed breaks. Top NW facing spots…again mostly in North County will have shoulder-head high+ surf fairly consistently and sets going a little overhead at times. Looks like exposed points and reefs will have the best shape but expect smaller less consistent sets in those areas.

Winds
Saturday will see some eddish flow through the morning…so a sort of W-SW wind around 10-12 knots. Not enough to blow it out…but enough to make it a bit crumbly and sort of funky. Look for building onshore winds out of the W-NW in the 10-15 knot range for the afternoon.

Sunday will have mostly light and variable to light offshore winds and clean conditions. Winds will stay light through the first part of the morning and then build out of the NW around 10-15 knots for the afternoon.

Orange County Tides
11/21/2009 Sat
12:56AM LST 3.4 H
04:26AM LST 3.0 L
10:37AM LST 4.9 H
06:43PM LST 0.4 L

11/22/2009 Sun
02:08AM LST 3.5 H
05:30AM LST 3.2 L
11:24AM LST 4.5 H
07:36PM LST 0.7 L

Orange County Surf Forecast – Friday – On the way down…but still fun

2009-11-19T16:39:00.000-08:00

The Swell
The mix of WNW-NW swell (280-300 but with more energy in the 290-300 range) and some weak SW swell (200-220) will back down on Friday. Look for the biggest, most consistent surf through the morning and further shrinkage by the afternoon.

Waves
Look for smaller but still fun/rideable surf on Friday. The average exposed spots will be in the waist high range…maybe even a few chest high sets through the morning. Standout NW exposed spots will be in the chest-shoulder high range…with a few North County plus sets early in the morning. Looks like shape will continue to be a little wally at the beach breaks so the best shape will be at spots that have something to break up the swell a little bit better.

Winds
Look for light and variable winds through the morning…even a few pockets of light E-ESE-SE offshore winds in some areas. Increasing clouds and light/moderate NW winds 10-14 knots move in through the afternoon. Chance for some light showers later in the night.

Orange County Tides
11/20/2009 Friday
03:45AM LST 2.8 L
09:58AM LST 5.4 H
05:53PM LST 0.1 L

Orange County Surf Forecast – Thursday – WNW-NW swell peaks

2009-11-18T15:25:00.001-08:00

The Swell
WNW-NW swell (280-300 but with most of the energy around 290-300) will peak on Thursday as it mixes with some background SW swell (200-220). Due to the steeper swell angle this swell will show most of its energy at the winter spots in North County…but expect a (smaller) increase in surf across the county.

Waves
New swell moves in and helps to increase wave heights in most spots…average breaks are going to hold around waist-chest high…with some occasionally bigger sets at the better NW facing and combo breaks. Top NW facing spots will have surf in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high sets…possibly even a rare bigger one on the lower tide.

Winds
Look for light and variable to light offshore winds for the morning, some patchy fog in spots as well. Variable…mostly onshore…flow builds in through the afternoon but stays around 5-10 knots.

Orange County Tides
11/19/2009 Thursday
03:12AM LST 2.6 L
09:23AM LST 5.7 H
05:08PM LST -0.2 L
11:52PM LST 3.4 H

Orange County Surf Forecast – Wednesday – WNW-NW swell on the way up

2009-11-17T17:26:00.000-08:00

The Swell
A new mix of WNW-NW swell (280-300 degrees but with the main push of energy around 290-300) will fill in throughout the day. Small SW swell (200-220) will also increase slightly in the background. Look for most spots to start small (and tide swamped) but expect more size to arrive as the swell fills in more in the afternoon...bigger waves will arrive after dark and hold into Thursday.

Waves
There will be a little new WNW-NW swell sneaking in through the morning as well as a little more SW energy…but I don’t think either swell is going to be able to push through that morning high tide. Yeah there are a couple of really shallow sandbars that might have some new waves but mostly it will continue to be small and soft. Look for more knee high shorebreak lines through the morning at the average breaks. Standout combo spots will be slightly bigger in the knee-waist high range.

By the afternoon the swell will be on the way up while the tides are on the way down…look for more waist-chest high waves at the average NW facing breaks…standout NW spots will see some shoulder high sets before sundown.

Winds
Light and variable winds on tap through the morning and W-WNW winds around 10-15+ knots for the afternoon.

Orange County Tides
11/18/2009 Wednesday
02:40AM LST 2.4 L
08:50AM LST 6.0 H
04:26PM LST -0.5 L
10:58PM LST 3.6 H

Orange County Surf Forecast – Tuesday – hmmm tide burgers

2009-11-16T14:06:00.001-08:00

The Swell
Leftover WNW-NW energy…mostly local windswell and a trace of SW swell…really I wouldn’t have known these swells were in the water, let alone mention them, if we had something real to ride.

Waves
Ankle high tide burgers will be on tap for most areas in the morning. Look for the best NW combo spots, mostly in parts of North County, to see some knee-waist shore break early on…but then getting slightly more rideable as the tide drops. Mostly windswell mush shape but you might be able to get a big board on it.

Winds
Light offshore to light and variable winds on tap through the morning and W-WNW winds around 10-12 knots for the afternoon. Conditions look nice and clean through the first half of the day.

Orange County Tides
11/17/2009 Tuesday
02:09AM LST 2.1 L
08:18AM LST 6.2 H
03:46PM LST -0.7 L
10:10PM LST 3.6 H

Orange County Surf Forecast – Monday – Small and Clean

2009-11-15T14:30:00.001-08:00

The Swell
We will have a mix of small WNW-NW windswell, some weak SW swell (190-210), and some new, but background, NW swell (295-300) from a little further out in the NPAC.

Waves
Thanks to the morning high tide most spots will be pretty small for the dawn patrol…though a few of the shallower sand bars may see some inconsistent sets. As the tide drops look for the average breaks to fill in to about knee high with some inconsistent waist high sets. The standout combo spots, that can mix the windswell and SW energy, will be more in the waist high range but I wouldn’t rule out some chest high sets as the tide drops.

Winds
Light offshore to light and variable winds on tap through the morning and W-WNW winds around 10-12 knots for the afternoon. Looks clean through the first half of the day.

Light and variable to light offshore winds will be on tap Sunday morning. NW winds 10-15+ knots move in through the afternoon.

Orange County Tides
11/16/2009 Mon
01:37AM LST 1.9 L
07:46AM LST 6.3 H
03:07PM LST -0.8 L
09:24PM LST 3.8 H

Orange County Surf Forecast – Weekend Waves – The windswell continues

2009-11-13T12:24:00.000-08:00

The Swell
WNW-NW windswell will peak into early Saturday, fade slightly through midday and then increase again in the afternoon. Look for the windswell (and a small SW swell) to fade through the day on Sunday.

Waves
Saturday looks pretty ugh…high tide and building onshore winds will keep things from ever getting very surfable…though there may be a couple of random surf pockets if you have a spot that can handle the mix of tide/windswell. Most breaks will be in the knee-waist high range while the standout NW windswell spots see some waist-chest high sets.

Sunday looks cleaner but the tide will continue to be an issue…more knee-waist high waves on tap for the morning…with a few chest high sets sneaking in as the tide drops. Look for smaller, less consistent, surf by the afternoon.

Winds
Saturday will see variable onshore flow for the morning…mostly below 10-knots but starting to get some texture on the water early (if it ever lets up from Friday night). Look for NW winds around 10-20 knots for the afternoon.

Light and variable to light offshore winds will be on tap Sunday morning. NW winds 10-15+ knots move in through the afternoon.

Orange County Tides
11/14/2009 Saturday
12:30AM LST 1.2 L
06:44AM LST 6.1 H
01:47PM LST -0.4 L
07:50PM LST 4.0 H

11/15/2009 Sunday
01:05AM LST 1.6 L
07:15AM LST 6.3 H
02:28PM LST -0.7 L
08:38PM LST 3.9 H

Orange County Surf Forecast – Friday – Building windswell lumps

2009-11-12T15:07:00.001-08:00

The Swell
New WNW-NW windswell and some minor SW swell (200-220) will filter through the exposed spots on Friday. Look for increase in size as the tide drops and the windswell increases later in the day.

Waves
Not much surf on tap for the morning thanks to a nearly 6’ high tide that peaks during the dawn patrol…expect a few weak, basically shorebreak, lines to sneak through early…but without much in the way of rideable shape. Look for the mix of windswell and SW energy to build surf in the knee-waist high range at the average spots as the tide drops. Standout breaks may see some bigger sets but will likely blow out before many slip through.

Winds
Mostly light and variable onshore winds and a bunch of areas with minor texture for the morning. Look for some moderate W-WNW winds in the 10-15+ knot range for the afternoon.

Orange County Tides
11/13/2009 Friday
06:12AM LST 5.9
H 01:04PM LST 0.1
L 06:59PM LST 4.1 H

Orange County Surf Forecast – Thursday – More leftovers…and building lump

2009-11-11T14:22:00.001-08:00

The Swell
Not much change out there in the morning…the NW swell (290-300) will continue to wind down along with the weak SW swell (200-220). Local WNW-NW windswell will start to increase late in the day but won’t put many new waves on the beach until Friday.

Waves
The combo of fading swell and a lovely 5’+ morning high tide is going to shut off surf for many spots. Look for flat to knee high waves for the average spots during the dawn patrol…and a few waist highers at the top spots. We will get a slight improvement as the tide drops…more in the knee high+ range for the average spots and knee-waist high+ at the standout spots...unfortunately it will be a race to see if the tide drops or the winds pick up first. Personally I think that the wind is going to win tomorrow.

Winds
Mostly light and variable onshore winds and a bunch of areas with minor texture for the morning. Look for some moderate W-WNW winds in the 10-15+ knot range for the afternoon.

Orange County Tides
11/12/2009 Thursday
05:39AM LST 5.5 H
12:18PM LST 0.7 L
06:02PM LST 4.2 H
11:54PM LST 1.0 L

Orange County Surf Forecast – Wednesday – Leftovers again

2009-11-10T16:01:00.001-08:00

The Swell
Our mix of NW swell (290-300) and the smaller, less consistent, SW swell (200-220) will both continue to back down on Wednesday. Weak local windswell moves in through the afternoon but won’t add much extra size to the mix.

Waves
The average spots throughout the County will be in the knee-thigh high range…with a few waist high sets coming through at the average combo spots. The standout NW facing breaks, and the best SW facing spots in South County, will be more in the knee-chest high range…again with a couple of chest high+ waves on the better tides.

Winds
Mostly light and variable winds with just a few areas of minor texture for the morning. Look for some light/moderate W-WNW winds in the 10-15 knot range for the afternoon. Patchy fog and overcast skies will be on tap through the first part of the day.

Orange County Tides
11/11/2009 Wednesday
05:05AM LST 5.0 H
11:24AM LST 1.4 L
04:56PM LST 4.3 H
11:13PM LST 0.7 L

Orange County Surf Forecast – Tuesday – NW swell continues to wind down

2009-11-09T15:53:00.001-08:00

The Swell
WNW-NW swell (285-300) and the smaller SW swell (200-220) will both continue to fade on Tuesday while the local mix of windswell holds in the background.

Waves
Average exposed spots, mostly the NW facing ones in North County, will be in the waist-high+ range. Top NW facing spots, and the best combo breaks, will be in the chest-shoulder high range through the morning low tides. Look for smaller, less consistent surf as the swell mix fades more during the afternoon.

Winds
Clean conditions on tap for Tuesday. Mostly light and variable winds with just a few areas of minor texture for the morning. Look for some light/moderate W-WNW winds in the 10-12 knot range for the middle of the day and then lighter winds setting back up as we get close to sundown.

Orange County Tides
11/10/2009 Tuesday
04:28AM LST 4.5 H
10:16AM LST 2.2 L
03:38PM LST 4.4 H
10:28PM LST 0.4 L

Orange County Surf Forecast – Monday – A few fun ones as the swell mix fades.

2009-11-08T15:58:00.001-08:00

The Swell
Our WNW-NW swell (285-300) and SW swell (200-220) will both be slowly fading throughout the day on Monday.

Waves
Average breaks will be in the waist-chest high range, with a couple of bigger waves on the lower tides in the morning. The standout NW facing spots, mostly through the select spots in North County, will be closer to shoulder-head high on sets. Both size and consistency will drop off as we head into the afternoon and the tide starts to swamp out the fading swell mix.

Sunday the NW’er (285-300) will peak through the morning while the SW swell holds. Average spots will push up into the waist-chest high range with some shoulder high sets. The better combo breaks will see some inconsistent head high sets. The stand NW facing breaks, mostly through North County, will see surf in the shoulder-head high range with overhead sets mixing in on the lower tides.

Winds
Clean conditions on tap for Monday. Mostly light and variable winds with just a few areas of minor texture for the morning. Look for some light/moderate W-WNW winds in the 10-12 knot range for the middle of the day and then lighter winds setting back up as we get close to sundown.

Orange County Tides
11/09/2009 Monday
03:43AM LST 4.0 H
08:42AM LST 2.9 L
02:08PM LST 4.6 H
09:34PM LST 0.2 L

Orange County Surf Forecast – Weekend Waves – New NW swell peaks on Sunday

2009-11-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

The Swell
On Saturday we will have a mix of playful NW swell (290-300) and some inconsistent, but fun, SW swell (200-220). A larger NW swell may show a few new lines at the top spots by the late afternoon…but most of the energy will arrive after dark.

Sunday the NW swell (285-300+) will peak and mix with the smaller SW energy (200-220). Look for the biggest surf through the morning and then a gradual slow down by the afternoon and into Monday.

Waves
Saturday morning the average spots are going to hold in the knee-waist high range with a few waist-high+ sets showing at the combo spots. Standout SW facing spots and excellent combo spots will have some waist-chest surf with some occasional chest-shoulder high sets. Keep an eye out for some new NW energy to start to filter into the best exposed spots by late in the afternoon.

Sunday the NW’er (285-300) will peak through the morning while the SW swell holds. Average spots will push up into the waist-chest high range with some shoulder high sets. The better combo breaks will see some inconsistent head high sets. The stand NW facing breaks, mostly through North County, will see surf in the shoulder-head high range with overhead sets mixing in on the lower tides.

Winds
Saturday may see a little funkiness as outer water winds try to spin up a bit of eddy…it shouldn’t be totally blown out or anything but there is the potential for some onshore texture through the dawn patrol that will strengthen through the afternoon.

Sunday looks clean with light/variable to light offshore winds through the morning. W-WSW winds 10-15 knots move in through the afternoon.

Orange County Tides
11/07/2009 Saturday
01:19AM LST 3.4 H
05:00AM LST 2.9 L
11:20AM LST 5.6 H
07:24PM LST -0.2 L

11/08/2009 Sunday
02:42AM LST 3.6 H
06:41AM LST 3.1 L
12:36PM LST 5.0 H
08:32PM LST 0.1 L

Orange County Surf Forecast – creeping up

2009-11-05T17:31:00.001-08:00

The Swell
Look for a mix of small inconsistent SW swell (200-220) and building NW-WNW energy that fills in slowly as we move throughout the day.

Waves
Still not the greatest swell mix for Orange County but it will increase our surf a little bit. Average spots can expect knee-waist high waves, while the standout SW facing spots as well as the standout NW facing spots, see some inconsistent waist-chest high sets. High tide will keep things soft through the first part of the day, but there may be a little more wiggle-room for the dawn patrol as the tide peak moves back to about 10:30am.

Winds
Winds will be mostly light/variable in the morning with a few pockets of light onshore texture at the wind prone spots. NW winds around 10-15 knots will build in through the afternoon.

Orange County Tides
03:59AM LST 2.7 L
10:21AM LST 6.0 H
06:16PM LST -0.4 L

Orange County Surf Forecast – a good day for chores

2009-11-04T15:43:00.000-08:00

The Swell
Small and inconsistent SW swell (200-220) will mix with fading NW leftovers and background local windswell.

Waves
Surf will be flat to about knee high for most of the average spots tomorrow…and by knee high I mean “knee high shorebreak” not very many rideable waves. Top SW facing breaks in South County will be a touch bigger but still not all that fun…basically the best breaks can expect more consistent knee-high sizes with a couple of knee-high+ sets on the lower tides. High tide will kill it off almost everywhere by midmorning.

Winds
Winds will be mostly light/variable in the morning with a few pockets of light onshore texture, particularly around the random fog banks. Look for W-SW winds coming onshore around 10-13 knots by the afternoon.

Orange County Tides
03:16AM LST 2.4 L
09:33AM LST 6.2 H
05:16PM LST -0.6 L
11:57PM LST 3.5 H

Orange County Surf Forecast – Waves for Wednesday

2009-11-03T16:30:00.001-08:00

The Swell
Orange County will see a mix of fading WNW swell (290-300), some background SW energy (200-220), and some local NW windswell that pushes in a bit more by the afternoon.

Waves
The two longer-period swells don’t really mix well for OC thanks to shadowing by the Nearshore Islands. The NW swell hits in mostly North County and the SW’er shows almost exclusively in South County. Since we don’t see that much combo it looks like our surf is going to hold in the knee-high to knee-high+ range at most of the average spots. The standout NW and the standout SW facing spots will be slightly bigger in the knee-waist high range with a few rare chest high sets pushing through on the lower tides. Like I said in the main forecast the tide is going to be an issue…so try and avoid surfing as it peaks if you can.

Winds
Look for light and variable conditions early…but with a touch of onshore flow picking up by midmorning. Generally it will be clean but with a couple of pockets of texture building in at the really wind exposed areas, particularly around the areas of patchy fog that will roll through. W-NW winds 10-15 knots build in through the afternoon.

Orange County Tides
02:40AM LST 2.1 L
08:52AM LST 6.3 H
04:23PM LST -0.7 L
10:50PM LST 3.6 H