Swell Forecast & Schedule

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Surf Synopsis
This morning (Thursday) we have a small mix of southerly ground swell and NW wind swell along the California coast. Some moderate SSE swell comes in from Easter Island Friday, but fades Saturday. NW wind swell builds Sunday, peaks Monday. Long range models continue to look bleak.

Currently, periods are primarily running 15 seconds from 180°, 12 seconds from 160°, and 9 seconds from 310°.

In SoCal, most all breaks are seeing knee to waist high waves, with the best size at south facing breaks today.

Wind Outlook
Winds at 6:00 this morning were light and variable most everywhere. Onshores should increase this afternoon to 9-14 mph. Friday through Sunday look similar, however, Sunday into Monday look for onshores to pick up earlier in the morning as the onshore flow increases from troughing pushing south towards our area.

Weather Outlook
Major change for inland areas over the next few days with valleys getting into triple-digit temps today through Saturday, thanks to strong high pressure over the region. The coast though will be a different story, with temps about 30° cooler. Excessive heat inland has strengthened the thermal inversion near the coast, squishing the marine layer to a very thick haze. This, and colder than normal sea surface temps will keep an onshore flow going at the surface, only allowing beaches to warm to maybe the low to mid 70s today south of LA. From LA north, where the strongest effects of the surface onshore flow/thermal inversion will be felt, beach temps may struggle to break free of the high 60s (at the immediate coast). High pressure peaks Friday into Saturday. Troughing then pushes southward Sunday, cooling temps through Monday, and increasing the marine layer as well.

Swell Forecast and Schedule
Synopsis
Still not much out there today with just a smattering of small scaled swells bringing weak waves to the coast. A little something comes our way though from Easter Island Friday, angled from a steep 170-175°. Anything above chest high on this though would be surprising. And given the angle, a lot of south facing breaks will have a tough time pulling this in.

The trough (mentioned in the weather section above) pushing south Sunday is looking to create a massive fetch of wind swell along the northern coast. Not much of this is expected to drift southward, but it does look like we'll see some wind swell build into SoCal Sunday, peaking Monday. Angled from 300+ degrees, this will be a tough angle for most west facing breaks. Chest high max on this seems like a reasonable expectation, with periods only in the 8-10 second range.

Next week is looking small overall. There just isn't much of anything happening anywhere in the Pacific. The East Coast is rather busy with Earl, Fiona, Gaston, and a new development breaking off Africa that'll likely turn into a tropical storm soon. For us on the West Coast though, it's a whole other story. Southern hemisphere is only kicking up small storms with meager fetch reaching only 20' seas here and there. Northern hemisphere Pacific models show very little tropical activity, nothing that could bring surf to SoCal any time soon. I hate to say it, but September is looking like quite a dull month...so far. I'll maintain a close watch nonetheless and keep you posted.

Here's how the day-to-day is breaking down so far:

Friday the 3rd should see some SSE energy come ashore from Easter Island, about chest high max for breaks able to pull in a 170° angle. Elsewhere, knee to waist is the call.

Saturday the 4th looks a bit smallert, about waist high most everywhere.

Sunday the 5th southern hemi backs off, but NW wind swell builds. South facing breaks are looking at knee to waist high waves. West facing breaks are looking at waist+ waves.

Monday the 6th should see a slight increase in NW wind swell, about chest max for west facing breaks. South facing breaks are looking at knee to maybe waist high waves.

Tuesday the 7th wind swell should back off. Most all breaks are looking at knee to waist high surf.

Wednesday the 8th looks smaller at this point, perhaps knee+ most everywhere.

Thursday the 9th also looks rather small.

Until my next report (Sunday), take care, be safe, and smile in the line-up!

—Nathan