Swell Classification Guidelines
Significant: Winter - Swell 8 ft @ 14 secs or greater (11+ ft faces) for 8+ hours (greater than double overhead).
Summer - Head high or better.
Advanced: Winter - Swell and period combination capable of generating faces 1.5 times overhead to double overhead (7-10 ft)
Summer - Chest to head high.
Intermediate/Utility Class: Winter - Swell and period combination generating faces at head high to 1.5 times overhead (4-7 ft).
Summer - Waist to chest high.
Impulse/Windswell: Winter - Swell and period combination generating faces up to head high (1-4 ft) or anything with a period less than 11 secs.
Summer - up to waist high swell. Also called 'Background' swell.
PACIFIC OVERVIEW
Current Conditions
On Tuesday (1/10) North and Central CA was seeing residual Japan/Dateline swell was still pushing double overhead and clean with well lined up swell. Down south surf was chest to head high or better and pristine clean. Southern California up north was seeing Dateline swell with waves shoulder high and clean and well lined up. Down south the swell was also shoulder to head high and well lined up and clean. Hawaii's North Shore was getting residual dateline swell with waves head high to 2 ft overhead and clean and much softer than days before. The South Shore was flat and clean. The East Shore was getting the same dateline swell wrapping in with waves waist to chest high and chopped by easterly trades.
See QuikCASTs for the 5 day surf overview or read below for the detailed view
Meteorological Overview
Swell was hitting California from a small gale that developed off Japan with 40 ft seas, faded, then tracked across the dateline and into the Western Gulf Fri-Sat (1/7). Another gale was winding up north of Hawaii with seas in the 34 fr range targeting primarily the US West Coast. Another system is forecast evolving off Kamchatka on Thur-Fri (1/13) with 38 ft seas over a tiny area and making no eastward progress. Limited swell to result. After that a curious system is to develop 900 nmiles north of Hawaii on Mon-Tues (1/17), but most fetch is to be aimed west at Japan. In short, things are slowing down.
SHORT- TERM FORECAST
Current marine weather and wave analysis.cgius forecast conditions for the next 72 hours
North Pacific
Overview
Jetstream - On Tuesday (1/10) the jet was flowing off Japan at 150 kts carving out a broad soft trough just west of the dateline, then ridging slightly to the northeast and .cgiitting about 900 nmiles north of Hawaii with energy levels dropping off significantly east of there in both .cgiit streams and of no interest. Limited support for gale development in the trough west of the dateline. Over the next 72 hours a pocket of 170 kts winds are to build pushing off Japan but .cgiitting before even reaching the dateline with most energy peeling off to the north forming a trough off Kamchatka and holding there. Good support for gale development in that area, but not migrating east any. Beyond 72 hours the pocket of wind energy over Japan is to reach 190 kts on Sun (1/15) but is not looking to be making much eastern headway with the .cgiit point holding just west of the dateline. There's some suggestion that the .cgiit off Kamchatka is to fade by Wed (1/18) leaving a solid flow way down at 30N with a trough located north of Hawaii and wind levels down at 140 kts. Perhaps some limited support for gale development north of Hawaii long term, but that's quite a reach at this early date.
Surface - On Tuesday (1/10) swell from the Japan/Dateline Gale was all but gone in Hawaii but still producing solid surf up in Central CA, with a the core of the swell just peaking in Southern CA. Otherwise high pressure at 1040 mbs was ridging into Oregon. Also a new gale was developing north of Hawaii. This gale actually got organized Sunday (1/8) just west of the dateline with 40-45 kt west winds over a tiny area resulting in seas to 28 ft at 37N 172E. This gale lifted northeast on Sunday evening (1/8) winds in the core fetch fading from 35 kts with seas barely holding at 26 ft at 38N 180W. By Monday AM (1/9) only 30 kt westerly fetch remained with most fetch moving into the gales north quadrant at 40-45 kts but aimed only back at Japan. Seas fading in the original fetch from 25 ft at 35N 175W. South fetch off the front of the gale and north fetch off the back set up as the gale lifted north generating limited seas of 26 ft at 43N 171W Monday evening targeting primarily the US West Coast. Tuesday AM (1/10) 40 kts west fetch held producing seas near 32 ft over a tiny area at 44N 166W. Then in the evening the gale is to fade and lift northeast with only 30 kt west winds remaining producing a tiny area of 34 ft seas at at 45N 161W targeting Central CA up into British Columbia. A quick fade to follow. In all some limited sideband swell is expected for Hawaii arriving perhaps late on Tuesday (1/10) with limited energy for the US West Coast mainly north of Pt Conception by Friday (1/13) into the weekend.
Hawaii: Expect swell arrival (from when this system was on the dateline) on Tuesday (1/10) mid-afternoon with pure swell 4 ft @ 15 secs (6 ft faces). Swell to reach 5 ft @ 13 secs (6.5 ft) on Wednesday, with additional reinforcing energy moving in late Wednesday pushing 7 ft @ 14 secs (9.5 ft). Swell fading Thursday from 7 ft @ 13 secs (9 ft). Swell Direction:300-305 degrees
Also a weak 2 day bit of weak Kona winds (form the north) are forecast for the Islands on Thurs-Fri (1/13) driven by high pressure passing north of the area. Only 10 kts though.
Japan Gale
On Monday PM (1/2) a new gale started wrapping up off Northern Japan with 55 kt northwest winds over a small area and seas on the increase. Tuesday AM (1/3) 50-55 kt west winds continued with seas building to 41 ft over a tiny area at 41N 157E (308 degs HI, 301 NCal). The gale was making no eastward progress. In the evening winds were fading from 40-45 kts aimed well to the west winds seas fading from 39 ft at 40N 162E (308 degs HI, 297 NCal). By Wednesday AM (1/4) winds were down to 30-35 kts with seas from previous fetch fading to 32 ft at 40N 168E (311 degs HI, 296 NCal). In the evening a new fetch was building southeast of the original fetch pushing towards the dateline but winds only 40 kts. No seas of interest yet being generated. On Thursday AM (1/5) a new tiny fetch of 45 kt west winds was building just west of the dateline with seas on the increase. In the evening a tiny fetch of 50 kt west winds was just about at the dateline with 32 ft seas at 40N 175E (315 degs HI, 293 degs NCal). This fetch continued east on Friday AM at 45-50 kts with 39 ft seas at 40N 178W (324 degs HI, 291 degs NCal). Fetch was fading from 45 kts in the evening with seas from previous fetch fading from 37 ft over a tiny area at 40N 168W (mostly bypassing HI and aimed right up the 288 degree path to NCal (295 degs SCal). By Saturday AM (1/7) 45 kt northwest winds continued over a small area as the gale lifted northeast with seas fading from 32 ft at 44N 168W (296 degs NCal). By evening the gale was gone.
Some small longer period swell has been generated for all North Pacific locations. The swell has already hit Hawaii and has also hit and peaked in North and Central CA.
Southern CA: Expect the next portion of the swell (from when the gale crossed the dateline) to arrive starting Tuesday (1/10) near 1 AM with period 19 secs and size tiny and slowly but steadily increasing. Swell to peak near 11 AM Tuesday (1/10) with pure swell maybe 2.6-2.9 ft @ 17-18 secs (4.5-5.0 ft faces). Swell fading on Wednesday at 3.0 ft @ 14 secs (4 ft). Swell Direction 294-297 degrees.
North Pacific Animations: Jetstream - Surface Pressure/Wind - Sea Height - Surf Height
Tropics
No tropical systems of interest were being monitored.
California Nearshore Forecast
On Tuesday (1/10) high pressure at 1036 mbs was trying to ridge into British Columbia with northeast winds 20 kts racing offshore from Cape Mendocino and far less off Central CA. In short, an offshore flow was was in effect for the entire state. By Wednesday the high is to be pushing inland and an offshore flow (or at least calm flow) is to continue holding through Sunday if not into Monday. Theoretically a small low pressure system is to form off Cape Mendocino on Tuesday possibly pushing hard to the east and inland with a front falling down to the SF Bay Area on Wednesday, but that's just a guess. But for now, calm winds and glassy conditions are to be the norm.
South Pacific
Overview
At the surface in the South Pacific no swell producing fetch was occurring. Over the next 72 hours no change is forecast.
South Pacific Animations: Jetstream - Surface Pressure/Wind - Sea Height - Surf Height
LONG-TERM FORECAST
Marine weather and forecast conditions 3-10 days into the future
North Pacific
Beyond 72 hrs another broad gale is to develop off Kamchatka on Thursday (1/12) with up to 55 kt westerly winds embedded in a broader area of 45 kt winds g and seas to 30 ft, maybe pushing 38 ft late in the evening at 48N 164E but all lifting hard to the north and likely bound for the Bering Sea in 24 hours. Maybe some swell to survive the long journey east free and clear of the Aleutians on the 302-306 degree great circle paths to Central CA, but location in the Pacific Northwest to likely be shadowed by the Aleutians. Nothing of any real interest expected regardless.
Beyond another gale is to wrap just east of the dateline on Mon (1/16) and be large in coverage, but with mostly fetch aimed west at Japan in it's north quadrant. Limited fetch forecast for the south quadrant with seas barely 30 ft on Tues (1/17).
MJO/ENSO Update
Note: The Madden Julian Oscillation is a periodic weather event that tracks east along the equator circumnavigating the globe. It is characterized by either enhanced trade winds and dry weather over the part of the equatorial Pacific it is on control of or slack if not an outright reversal of trade winds and enhanced precipitation. The oscillation occurs in roughly 20-30 day cycles (Inactive for 20-30 day, then Active for 20-30 days) over any single location on the.cgianet. During the Active Phase in the Pacific the MJO tends to support the formation of stronger and longer lasting gales resulting in enhanced potential for the formation of swell producing storms. During the Inactive Phase the jetstream tends to .cgiit resulting in high pressure and less potential for swell producing storm development. The paragraphs below analyze the state of the MJO in the Pacific and provide forecast for MJO activity.
As of Tuesday (1/10) the daily Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was up slightly to -1.69. The 30 day average was down some to 16.46 (through overall still pretty high) with the 90 day down some at 14.20.
Current wind analysis indicated weak easterly anomalies were just above neutral levels over the West Pacific from 120E to 180W. No westerly anomalies were indicated, but near neutral conditions are better than anomalies out of the east. This suggests a weak version of the Active Phase of the MJO was trying to make better inroads towards the dateline from the west. A week from now (1/18) the models indicate no easterly anomalies and even slight westerly anomalies are to build in patches over the entire West Pacific from 100E to 160W. This is good news.The longer range models are in agreement suggesting that the Inactive Phase of the MJO is effectively gone with a weak version of the Active Phase of the MJO starting to build on the dateline and holding there if not pushing east for the next 2 weeks, strongest 9 days out. All this suggests a slow eastward evolution of the Active Phase through late January. At this point, it's anyone's guess what might develop, but we're continuing to become more optimistic that some flavor of a weak Active Phase is developing on the dateline, offering potential to enhance storm formation in the North Pacific in January.
Remnants of what was a moderate.cgius strength La Nina Pattern (where the Inactive Phase takes control) are still evident and momentum from this La Nina event are expected to hold well into the Spring of 2012. In short, it's going to be tough for surfers in the Eastern Pacific and Eastern Atlantic, though shores of the West Pacific and Atlantic might do well from the Inactive Phase's dominance during tropical/summer months. That is not to say there will be no storms, in fact, there could be short periods of intense activity when the Active Phase of the MJO gets an opportunity to come to fruition, but that will be the exception rather than the rule, with the Inactive Phase trying to keep a cap on storm activity.
See imagery in the ENSO Powertool and more details in the El Nino update.
South Pacific
Beyond 72 hours no swell producing fetch of interest is forecast.
Details to follow...
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External Reference Material: El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), Kelvin Wave
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Local Interest
Powerlines Productions, Big Wave Filmmakers since 1994, deliver their latest project, Super Natural on November 3rd in San Francisco at the Balboa Theater at 7:15 PM. The documentary film takes you on a tour with some of the best big wave surfers in the world riding giant waves from powerful Pacific winter storm systems. Filmed during the epic El Niño and La Niña winter seasons the movie takes you on an insiders journey to the fa bled big wave breaks of Maui's Pe'ahi (Jaws) and Northern California's Mavericks . World class surfers and underground legends tell their stories as they go back to the roots of paddling into giant waves thought to be unfeasible years ago without the use of jet skis. Mixed with a hand picked soundtrack and edge-of-your-seat highlights, see what makes these athletes 'Super Natural' as they risk it all chasing waves and dreams for the ultimate thrill. Featured Surfers: Shane Dorian, Chris Bertish, Danilo Couto, Yuri Soledade, Carlos Burle, Ion Banner, Travis Payne, Alex Martins, Tim West, Twiggy, Greg & Rusty Long, Shawn Dollar, Peter Mel, Skindog Collins, Ed Guzman, Pato Teixeira and Zach Wormhoudt. Advance tickets here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/204985
Steve Colleta Surfboards - Check out surfboards by local shaper Steve Coletta - A long time Santa Cruz local and master shaper. Progressive shapes for North and Central CA waves http://www.naturalcurvesboards.com
Chasing the Swell has been nominated for a Webby Award. See details of this great piece of video journalism below. Some say this is the "Oscars" of online awards.One of the awards is voter based. If you have a moment,.cgiease cast your ballot by going to: http://webby.aol.com, register, then click on the "Get Voting" tab and then to the "Online Film and Video" > "Sports" category and vote for "Chasing the Swell".
Timmy Reyes - Curt Myers from Powerlines Productions found this little gem with Timmy Reyes providing a brief statement about which sites he uses for swell chasing. Thought we'd pass it on. Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P30ZCQOsYwY
Buell Wetsuits - When surfing in Santa Cruz, we've been seeing a new wetsuit in the line-up worn by many top flight surfers. They're getting good traction and are well respected. Take a look: http://www.buellwetsuits.com/
Stormsurf Mobile App (1/9/11) We are proud to announce the official public release of our smartphone mobile app. It provides access to our most popular and commonly used products, optimized for use on the road, on the beach or anywhere you don't have a desktop or laptop. With a smart phone and signal, you will have access to our data. And we're not talking just a few teaser products - We're talking full feature wave models, weather models, real-time buoy data, manually built forecasts and hundreds of spot wave and wind forecasts enabling you to construct a surf forecast for any location on the.cgianet, all from your cell phone and all for free. No subscription required and no hidden fees. And better yet, there's a few new things sprinkled in that are not yet available even on our full-featured web site. From your smart phones browser just navigate to: www.stormsurf.com/mobile
Mavericks Surf Shop Grand Opening - Sunday, December 19 2:00 - 6:00 p.m. rain or shine! Check out the new home of Jeff Clark's Mavericks Surf Shop, now located at 25 Johnson Pier in Pillar Point Harbor. The shop features much of Clark's surfing memorabilia, classic boards and photos, as well as an entirely new line of Jeff Clark original Mavericks clothing, accessories and surfboards. The shop has been open in the new location since December 8, and the Grand Opening party is set for this coming Sunday, just in time for Christmas. The party starts at 2 p.m., with live music, food and drinks. Jeff Clark and many Mavericks surfers will be there to meet the public. Local restaurants Ketch Joanne's and Princeton Seafood will serve up delicious food, while San Francisco Wine Trading Company is providing the beverages. The shop will be open all weekend, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Stormsurf Maintenance Upgrades: Buoy 46059 and 46012 were r.cgiaced a month or so ago. Totally new buoys were installed. Here on Stormsurf we had to reset the algorithms used to calculate 'pure swell' for them. That was acco.cgiished on 11/13. Pure swell numbers are now correct. Links: 46012, 46059
Also since we moved to the new weather model server last month we discovered that our Longrange Precipitation Models ceased to display frozen precipitation (as they once did). Some of our scripts did not get installed on the new server. That has been fixed (11/13) and now snow is again viewable worldwide. Here the new North America sa.cgie.
Chasing The Swell: Sachi Cunningham from the LA Times spent the entirety of last winter chasing surfers and swells around the North Pacific with her high def video cam. Her timing couldn't have been any better with the project exactly coinciding with the strongest El Nino in 12 years resulting in the best big wave season in a decade. And being an acco.cgiished surfer herself helped her to bring a poignant and accurate account of the what it's like to ride big waves and the new (and some not so new) personalities that are revitalizing the sport. This is must-see material for any surfer or weather enthusiast. Check it out here: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/chasingtheswell/
New Weather Models With the activation of our new server we have now released a new block of weather models including North America jetstream, wind and precipitation, local coastal wind forecasts in 1 hr increments and snow and mountain wind forecasts in both 1 and 3 hours increments. The new animations can be found here (look for those items tagged with the New! icon): http://www.stormsurf.com/mdls/menu_wx.html
New Weather Model Server Stormsurf has installed another weather model production server. This has enabled us to spread the load across more servers allowing us to post both wave and weather model updates much quicker. Also we are testing new content (like North America jetstream, winds and precipitation, local wind forecasts in 1 hr increments and snow and mountain wind forecasts in both 1 and 3 hours increments). The model menus will be updated shortly with these new links.
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New Wave Model Facts: Click HERE to read more about the new wave models. Important info.
Time Zone Converter By popular demand we've built and easy to use time convert that transposes GMT time to whatever time zone you are located. It's ion left hand column on every page on the site near the link to the swell calculator.
Stormsurf Google Gadget - Want Stormsurf content on your Google Homepage? It's si.cgie and free. If you have Google set as your default Internet E.cgiorer Homepage, just click the link below and a buoy forecast will be added to your Google homepage. Defaults to Half Moon Bay CA. If you want to select a different location, just click on the word 'edit', and a list of alternate available locations appears. Pick the one of your choice. Content updates 4 times daily. A great way to see what waves are coming your way!
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Surf Height-Swell Height Correlation Table
