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Pacific Storm and Surf Forecast
Updated: Saturday, January 12, 2020 12:12 PM
Buoys: Northern CA - Southern CA - Hawaii - Gulf of Alaska - Pacific Northwest
Buoy Forecast:
Northern CA - Southern CA - Hawaii - Gulf of Alaska - Pacific Northwest
Pacific Links:  Atmospheric Models - Buoy Data - Current Weather - Wave Models
Forecast Archives: Enter Here
A chronology of recent Mavericks Underground forecasts. Once you enter, just click on the HTML file forecast you want to review (e.g. 073199.html equals July 31, 1999). To view the maps that correspond to that forecast date, select the html file labeled 073199 maps.html
2.0 - California & 2.1 - Hawaii
Using the 'Winter' Scale
(See Swell Category Table link at bottom of page)

Probability for presence of largest swells in near-shore waters of NCal, SCal or Hawaii.    

Issued for Week of Monday 1/13 thru Sun 1/19

Swell Potential Rating Categories
5 = Good probability for 3 or more days of Significant swell
4 = Good probability for 1-2 days of Significant swell
3 = Good probability for 3 or more days of Intermediate/Advanced swell
2 = Good probability for  1-2 days of
Intermediate/Advanced swell
1 = Good probability for 3 or more days of Impulse or Windswell
0 = Low probability for 1-2 days of Impulse or Windswell   

Kuril Swell Hitting HI
Local Swell Expected for CA

BUOY ROUNDUP
On Saturday, January 12, 2020 :

  • Buoy 233 (Pearl Harbor Entrance)/Buoy 239 (Lanai)/Barbers Point (Buoy 238) : Seas were 4.7 ft @ 16.7 secs with swell 3.2 ft @ 15.9 secs from 312 degrees.
  • Buoy 106 (Waimea): Seas were 9.6 ft @ 16.7 secs with swell 4.8 ft @ 15.9 secs from 306 degrees.
  • Buoy 46025 (Catalina RDG): Seas were 3.1 ft @ 10.8 secs with swell 1.8 ft @ 10.3 secs from 262 degrees. Wind at the buoy was north at 2-4 kts. Water temperature 59.9 degs. At Harvest Buoy (071) primary swell was 4.5 ft @ 9.5 secs from 297 degrees. At Santa Monica (028) swell was 1.3 ft @ 11.7 secs from 266 degrees. At Oceanside (045) swell was 1.2 ft @ 10.3 secs from 265 degrees. Southward at Torry Pines Outer (100) swell was 1.5 ft @ 12.4 secs from 272 degrees.
  • Buoy 46012 (Half Moon Bay)/029 (Pt Reyes): Seas were 6.4 ft @ 10.5 secs with swell 3.6 ft @ 9.8 secs from 295 degrees. Wind at the buoy (012) was northwest at 18-21 kts. Water temp 53.6 degs (013), 55.4 degs (012) and 55.4 degs (042).

See Hi-Res Buoy Dashboards (bottom of the page)

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.

Surf Heights for Hawaii should be consider 'Hawaiian Scale' if period exceeds 14 secs.

PACIFIC OVERVIEW
Current Conditions
On Saturday (1/11) in North and Central CA local windswell was producing waves at waist to maybe chest high and warbled and soft with small whitecaps early. Protected breaks were maybe waist high and very soft and weak with small whitecaps early. At Santa Cruz surf was near flat with rare thigh to waist high weak cappers but fairly clean. In Southern California/Ventura waves were thigh to waist high and weak and crumbled but clean and line dup when they came. In North Orange Co surf was waist high and very warbled from light south wind and soft and mushed. South Orange Country's best summertime breaks were flat and clean. North San Diego's best breaks had waves at thigh high and clean and breaking just off the beach. Hawaii's North Shore was getting Kuril Island swell mixed with raw northeast windswell producing waves at 2 ft overhead on the sets and pretty raw and warbled. The South Shore was flat and clean. The East Shore was getting east windswell with waves 2-3 ft overhead and chopped with strong east-northeast trades.

See QuikCASTs for the 5 day surf overview or read below for the detailed view.

Meteorological Overview
On Saturday (1/11) in California only tiny local windswell was hitting generated by high pressure off the coast. But in Hawaii swell was hitting generated by a broad gale that developed off the Kuril Islands Mon-Wed (1/8) producing 36 ft seas aimed east, but the gale did not make it east of the dateline. Another small gale developed Thurs-Fri (1/10) tracking northeast off Japan produce 28-32 ft seas aimed east targeting Hawaii and again not even making it east to the dateline. And a small but solid gale developed in the Northern Gulf on Fri (1/10) producing up to 41 ft seas aimed southeast, impacting Oregon on Sat (1/11) with swell radiating southeast from it. After that virtually no swell producing weather systems are forecast till Fri (1/17) when a small gale is forecast building in the Northwestern Gulf of Alaska producing a small area of 33 ft seas pushing east into the Central Gulf mid-Sat (1/18). The Inactive Phase of the MJO is still in effect, but not for much longer.

See all the details below...

 

SHORT- TERM FORECAST
Current marine weather and wave analysis plus forecast conditions for the next 72 hours

North Pacific

Overview
Jetstream
On Saturday (1/11) the jetstream was consolidated pushing east off Japan forming a weak trough over and just east of the Kuril Islands being fed by 180 kt winds offering some support for gale development mainly over the Kuril Islands. But east of there the jet split just before reaching the dateline with the split point at 175E with the northern branch ridging solidly north up through the Northern Gulf just south of the Eastern Aleutians then falling southeast down the Canadian and US West Coast offering only support for high pressure in the greater Gulf of Alaska. Over the next 72 hours no change is forecast but with winds building in the jet streaming off Japan to 190 kts late Sun (1/120 then fading back to 180 kts. The split point is to hold solid on the dateline. Beyond 72 hours starting Tues (1/14) more of the same is forecast with a persistent trough off or over the Kuril Islands. But starting Thurs (1/16) the jet is to start losing energy but pushing hard to the east with the split completely gone by early Fri (1/17) and a trough starting to dig out in the Gulf of Alaska by Sat (1/18) being fed by a building pocket of 160-170 kts winds falling into it from the dateline. A weak MJO is to be the problem right now, but that is to rapidly improve a week from now.


Surface Analysis
On Saturday (1/9) swell from a gale previously off the the Kuril Islands was hitting Hawaii (see Kuril Gale below).

Also swell from another gale that tracked east off japan was pushing towards Hawaii (See Japan Gale below).

And swell from a small gale that developed in the Eastern Gulf of Alaska was tracking southeast towards California (see Eastern Gulf Gale below).

Over the next 72 hours no swell producing weather systems are forecast.

 

Kuril Island Gale
On Mon AM (1/6) a broad complex gale formed off North Japan and the Kuril Islands producing pockets of 35- 45 kt northwest winds producing a small area of developing seas at 34 ft up at 46N 168E aimed east. In the evening the gale developed more producing 35-45 kt northwest winds and seas to 25 ft back west at 37N 157E aimed east. 40-45 kt northwest winds held into Tues AM (1/7) resulting in 35 ft seas at 43.5N 160E aimed south to southeast. Fetch was holding in the evening from 40-45 kts with seas 35 ft at 41.5N 164.5E aimed southeast. Fetch faded on Wed AM (1/8) from 35 kts from the west with 32 ft seas fading at 40.5N 173.5E aimed east. The gale was fading and lift northeast in the evening with west winds 35 kts and seas fading from 26 ft up at 41N 179W. The gale dissipated from there. Some small swell to possibly result for Hawaii.

Oahu: Swell to peak overnight and start fading Sat AM (1/11) from 4.6 ft @ 15-16 secs early (7.0 ft). residuals fading Sun AM (1/12) from 2.1 ft @ 13-14 secs (2.5 ft) with northeast windswell present during the duration of this swell. Swell Direction: 311 degrees

 

Japan Gale
On Wed PM (1/8) a new gale started developing off Japan with 40-45 kt west winds and seas building from 28 ft over a tiny area at 34N 153.5E aimed east. The gale lifted northeast on Thurs AM (1/9) with 40-45 kt west winds and 33 ft seas at 36.5N 164E aimed east. In the evening the gale was racing northeast just west of the dateline with 40 kt west winds barely getting any traction and seas 28 ft mainly from previous fetch at 37.5N 172.5E aimed east. The gale was pushing into the Bering Sea from there with no seas aimed east. Something to monitor. Maybe tiny sideband swell to result for Hawaii.

Oahu: Expect swell arrival on Sun (1/12) building to 2.2 ft @ 16 secs late (3.5 ft). Swell to continue on Mon (1/13) fading from 2.1 ft @ 14-15 secs early (3.0 ft). The swell to be gone in the evening. Swell Direction: 310 degrees

 

Eastern Gulf Gale
Also a small gale developed in the extreme Northeastern Gulf on Thurs PM (1/9) producing west winds at 35-40 kts and seas building. By Fri AM (1/10) 50 kt northwest winds were in play over a small area with seas building to 37 ft at 49.5N 143W (318 degs NCal) aimed southeast and on the very edge of the North CA swell window. The gale fell southeast fast in the evening with 45 kt northwest winds just off Vancouver Island with 39 ft seas at 47.5N 134W aimed southeast and barely in the NCal swell window again (319 degrees). The gale was moving onshore over Washington on Sat AM (1/11) with seas from previous fetch 30 ft at 47N 127W impacting Washington and Oregon. Maybe some swell to result for the US West Coast.

NCal: Expect swell arrival on sunset Sat (1/11) pushing 10 ft @ 16 secs (16 ft) and well shadowed in the SF Bay Area. Swell fading Sun AM (1/12) from 10 ft @ 15 secs (15 ft) and still shadowed. Residuals on Mon AM (1/13) fading from 6.0 ft @ 12 secs (7.0 ft). Swell Direction: 315+ degrees

 

North Pacific Animations: Jetstream - Surface Pressure/Wind - Sea Height - Surf Height

 

Tropical Update
No tropical systems of interest are being monitored.

California Nearshore Forecast
On Saturday AM (1/11) high pressure was off the coast with low pressure moving into the Pacific Northwest generating northwest winds at 20 kts early for Cape Mendocino with 15 kts north winds down from there to Pt Conception with all building to 20 kts later. Light rain mainly for North CA early and focused on Cape Mendocino. Light snow for Tahoe early. Sun (1/12) northwest winds are forecast at 20 kts all day for North and Central CA fading some up north later. Light rain for Cape Mendocino. Mon (1/13) northwest winds are forecast at 15 kts all day for North and Central CA building to 20 kts for Cape Mendocino later. Light rain for all of North CA early then building heavier for Cape Mendocino later. Light snow for Tahoe early and fading fast. Tues (1/14) north winds are forecast at 15-20 kts for North CA early and 10 kts south of there early fading everywhere except for Pt Conception holding at 20 kts later. Light rain for North CA mainly early. Light snow south to Tahoe. Wednesday (1/15) south winds are to be building from Cape Mendocino southward to Monterey Bay later at 20 kts and up to 30 kts up north. Solid rain building south to Monterey Bay in the evening. Snow building for Tahoe overnight. Thurs (1/16) west to southwest winds are forecast at 15 kts for all of North and Central CA all day. Heavy rain building south to San Diego all day. Heavy snow building south from Tahoe into Southern CA through the day. Fri (1/17) light winds are forecast all day. Light rain for North and Central CA fading early. No snow forecast. Sat (1/18) light south winds are forecast from San Francisco northward and up to 20 kts for Cape Mendocino with light winds south of there. No rain or snow forecast.

Total snow accumulation for the week for Squaw Valley, Sugar Bowl, Kirkwood and Mammoth at 29, 32, 28 and 8 inches respectively.

Snow Models: http://www.stormsurf.com/mdls/menu_snow.html (Scroll down for resort specific forecasts). Updated!

 

South Pacific

Overview
Surface Analysis
No swell producing fetch is occurring.

Over the next 72 hours no swell producing fetch is forecast.

 

South Pacific Animations: Jetstream - Surface Pressure/Wind - Sea Height - Surf Height

 

QuikCAST's

 

LONG-TERM FORECAST
Marine weather and forecast conditions 3-10 days into the future

North Pacific

Beyond 72 hours a small gale is forecast developing in the Western Gulf of Alaska on Thurs PM (1/16) producing 45 kt northwest winds and 32 ft seas at 45N 176.5W aimed southeast. The gale is to track east on Fri AM (1/17) with 45-50 kt northwest winds and seas building to 35 ft a modest sized area at 46.5N 168W aimed east. In the evening the gale is to be tracking east with 45 kt northwest winds and 35 ft seas at 45N 161W aimed southeast. On Sat AM (1/18) the gael is to be over the Central Gulf with 40 kt north west winds tracking east with 28 ft seas at 44N 153W aimed east. The gael is to fade from there. Something to monitor.

 

South Pacific

Beyond 72 hours no swell producing fetch of interest is forecast.

 

 

MJO/ENSO Forecast

 

Inactive MJO Holding - But Not for Long

The Madden Julian Oscillation is a periodic weather cycle that tracks east along the equator circumnavigating the globe. It is characterized in it's Inactive Phase by enhanced trade winds and dry weather over the part of the equator it is in control of, and in it's Active Phase by slackening if not an outright reversing trade winds while enhancing precipitation. The oscillation occurs in roughly 20-30 day cycles (Inactive for 20-30 days, then Active for 20-30 days) over any single location on the planet, though most noticeable in the Pacific. 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. Prolonged and consecutive Active MJO Phases in the Pacific help support the formation of El Nino. During the Inactive Phase the jet stream tends to split resulting in high pressure and less potential for swell producing storm development. Wind anomalies in the Kelvin Wave Generation Area (KWGA) are key for understanding what Phase the MJO is in over the Pacific. The KWGA is located on the equator from 135E-170W and 5 degs north and south (or on the equator from New Guinea east to the dateline). West wind anomalies in the KWGA suggest the Active Phase of the MJO in the Pacific, and east anomalies suggests the Inactive Phase. In turn the Active Phase strengthens and the Inactive Phase weakens the jetstream, which in turn enhances or dampens storm production respectively in the Pacific.The paragraphs below analyze the state of the MJO in the Pacific and provide forecasts for MJO activity (which directly relate to the potential for swell production).

Overview: A double dip La Nina was in control through the Winter of 2017-2018. But warming started building along the South and Central American coast in early March 2018 associated with two upwelling Kelvin Waves, and continued trying to build over equatorial waters over the Summer and Fall, but not enough to declare El Nino and not coupled with the atmosphere. In January 2019, those warm waters were fading, but then rebuilt late in Feb associated with Kelvin Wave (#3). But as of early June 2019 warm water was fading and by August a tongue of cool water was tracking west on the equator from Ecuador over the Galapagos reaching to a point nearly south of Hawaii. El Nino was dead.

LONG-RANGE PACIFIC STORM AND SWELL GENERATION POTENTIAL FORECAST
Fall/Winter 2019/2020 = 5.0/4.0 (California & Hawaii)
Rating based on a 1-10 scale: 1 being the lowest (small and infrequent surf conditions), 5 being normal/average, and 10 being extraordinary (frequent events of large, long period swells)

Rationale: It is assumed the PDO has moved to the warm phase and that a weak borderline El Nino from 2018 is fading out, but not yet completely gone, especially in the atmosphere. Likewise it looks like a La Nina ocean temperature pattern is developing in the equatorial East Pacific, with cooler than normal waters tracking west on the equator. We assumed El Nino like momentum will hold for a while in the atmosphere will take a while to sense that the ocean temperature pattern has changed. But once it does, a turn towards a La Nina like atmospheric pattern will start to develop. that transition is expected in the late Nov-early Dec timeframe. Even so, moderation from the PDO might prevent La Nina from fully developing. Given all that, there is decent probability for a normal start to the Fall surf season (in the Northern Hemisphere) meaning a normal amount of number of storm days and storm intensity, resulting in a normal levels of swell, with normal duration and normal period. But by mid-Dec 2019, the number of storm days, intensity and duration of those storms should start fading and as a result, swell production should fade slightly as well. This pattern is expected to hold through April 2020.

KWGA/Equatorial Surface Wind Analysis & Short-term Forecast (KWGA - Kelvin Wave Generation Area - The area 5 degrees north and south of the equator from 170W to 135E)
Analysis (TAO Buoys): As of (1/10) 5 day average winds were strong from the east over the Eastern equatorial Pacific continuing to the dateline and then pushing over the KWGA. Anomalies were light easterly over the far East equatorial Pacific turning neutral over the Central Pacific then moderate easterly over the dateline weakening but still present over the KWGA.
1 Week Forecast (GFS Model): On (1/11) light to modest east anomalies were over the dateline with weak to moderate west anomalies over the bulk of the KWGA. The forecast calls for east anomalies building in strength but mostly east of the KWGA starting 1/13 with west anomalies building over the bulk of the KWGA filling 95% of it on 1/12 and building from there to moderately strong status on 1/14 and holding through the end of the model run on 1/18.

Kelvin Wave Generation Area wind monitoring model: West and East

Longer Range MJO/WWB Projections:  
OLR Models: (1/10) A solid Active MJO signal was over the Maritime Continent with a equally solid Inactive MJO centered at 170W and straddling the eastern border of the KWGA. The statistic model indicates the Active MJO is to be pushing solidly into the Western KWGA at day 5 moving cleanly into the KWGA at day 10 and continuing filling the KWGA at day 15 and still solid in strength with the Inactive Phase gone. The dynamic model indicates the same thing but with the Active Phase weakening to modest status at day 15. The 2 models are generally in sync.
Phase Diagrams 2 week forecast (ECMF and GEFS): (1/11) The statistical model depicts the Active Phase was very strong over the Maritime Continent today and is to track east to the West Pacific at day 15, but with 2 of the 3 members fading to weak status while one has it building to even stronger status. The GEFS model suggests the Active Phase is strong over the Maritime Continent today and is to push to the West Pacific at day 8 and strong in strength then stalling and weakening to modest status at day 15.
40 day Upper Level Model (assumed to be a statistical mode and 1 week ahead of what is occurring at the surface): (1/11) This model depicts a moderate to strong Active MJO building in the West Pacific today. The Active Phase is to push east while building over Central Pacific and then into Central America on 2/3 while a modest Inactive MJO signal eases into the West Pacific on 1/29 pushing to the East Pacific and Central America at the end of the model run on 2/20. At that time a very weak Active Phase is to follow in the West Pacific.
4 Week CFS Model (850 mb wind): (1/9) This model depicts the Inactive Phase over the eastern KWGA today with weak east anomalies over the far Eastern KWGA today. And modest west anomalies were building over the West KWGA. The Inactive Phase is to push east and out of the KWGA on 1/15 with the Active Phase developing on 1/10 with west anomalies developing strongly in the core of the KWGA on 1/14 and both pushing through the KWGA and fading on 1/30. And even at that time solid west anomalies are to be holding in the core of the KWGA then slowly fading through the end of the model run on 2/6.
3 Month CFS Model (850 mb wind): (1/9) This model depicts a very weak Inactive Phase of the MJO fading and over the dateline today with light east anomalies over the same area and exiting/pushing to the east. West anomalies and the Active Phase of the MJO were building over the KWGA. The Active Phase is to build while tracking east through the KWGA through 2/8 with strong west anomalies on the dateline 1/14-1/20 . After that the Active Phase is to rebuild some and holding into 2/28 with weak west anomalies in control. A weak Inactive Phase is forecast 3/1-3/15 followed by a weak Active Phase 3/16-3/30 followed by a weak Inactive Phase 3/31 through the end of the model run on 4/9. Weak west anomalies are to hold over the whole duration. The low pass filter indicates a low pressure bias with 2 contour lines in control of the KWGA centered on the dateline reaching east to the California coast. The second contour line is to hold till 3/12 then fade. A high pressure bias built in the Indian Ocean starting 10/22 and is to hold through the end of the model run. A strong area of east anomalies in the Indian Ocean is forecast to hold though somewhat weaker after late Feb.

CFSv2 3 month forecast for 850 mb winds, MJO, Rossby etc - Alternate link

Subsurface Waters Temps
TAO Array: (1/11) Today in the far West Pacific the 30 deg isotherm was rebuilding east stable at 179W while the 29 deg isotherm was building east to 169W today. The 28 deg isotherm line was easing east to 157W today. The 24 deg isotherm previously retrograded to 110W but today was pushing into Ecuador. Anomaly wise, Kelvin Wave #6 was under the dateline at +3 degs tracking from the Maritime Continent moving east with it's leading edge at 115W pushing east. Kelvin Wave #5 has fully pushed into Ecuador. Warm water was filling the entire equatorial subsurface Pacific from 110 meters upwards. The hi-res GODAS animation posted 1/3 indicates warm water had formed a Kelvin Wave extending from 120E under the Dateline east to 110W at +2-3 degrees with lesser warm water pushing east from there then rebuilding to +2-4 degrees and impacting Ecuador (the remnants of Kelvin Wave #5). The GODAS animation appears to be 1 week behind the TAO data but also is more detailed and accurately modeled.
Sea Level Anomalies: (1/3) A broad pocket of +5 cms anomalies is tracking east between 165E-95W. Very weak positive anomalies were in a pocket along Ecuador.

Surface Water Temps
The more warm water in the equatorial East Pacific means more storm production in the North Pacific during winter months (roughly speaking). Cold water in that area has a dampening effect. Regardless of what the atmospheric models and surface winds suggest, actual water temperatures are a ground-truth indicator of what is occurring in the ocean. All data is from blended infrared and microwave sensors.
Satellite Imagery
Hi-res Nino1.2 & 3.4: (1/10) The latest images (1.2 3.4) indicate weak warm anomalies were fading some but still present from Chile along Peru up to Ecuador then streaming west on the equator over the Galapagos out to the dateline from 10S northward. But they were weaker and covered less area than days past. Weak cool anomalies were south of the equator off Peru and building from 10S to 1S reaching west to 115W. Weak warm anomalies were on and north of the equator building while tracking west to the dateline.
Hi-res 7 day Trend (1/10): Today warming was filling the area from Chile and Peru west out to 90W (previously 140W) and also off Ecuador on the equator out to 120W (previously 140W) and stronger in pockets. The short term trend is now towards weak warming in the Southeast Pacific. The warming trend was definitely fading.
Hi-res Overview: (1/10) A weak fading area of cool anomalies is holding south of the equator starting at 5S off Peru reaching out to 120W and building back north compared to weeks past. Otherwise gentle warming was along Chile up to Peru lifting north up to Ecuador then pushing west on the equator, out to the dateline. Warmer than normal water was north of the equator reaching north to 20N. Water temps appear to be stable mildly favoring El Nino.
Nino1.2 Daily CDAS Index Temps: (1/11) Today's temps were falling some today at +0.235 but previously much lower down at -0.900 on 12/12. Temps peaked prior at +1.55 degrees on 12/2 after a long runup from negative anomalies in October. It now appears we are in a falling trend.
Nino 3.4 Daily CDAS Index Temps:
(1/11) Temps were falling slightly today at +0.452. Temps peaked on 11/14 at +0.509 degs, fell some to -0.018 on 11/28, and are now trying to rebuild. The trend has been steadily generally upwards since Sept when they bottomed out at -0.6 degs (9/14).

Click for Full Sized Image Click for Full Sized Image

CFSV2 Forecast for Nino3.4 Sea Surface Temp (SST) Anomalies & Current SST Anomalies

SST Anomaly Projections
CFSv2 Uncorrected Data (1/11) Actual's indicate a cooling trend set up late summer with temps -0.2 degs in mid-Sept then the trend started rising to +0.25 degs in early Oct holding to Dec 1. The forecast has temps rising to +0.7 degrees on Jan 1 holding till Feb 1 then slowly falling from there to 0.0 in early June then diving negative appearing to be moving to La Nina down at -0.65 in early Sept. According to this model a neutral sea surface temperature pattern biased slightly warm is forecast for the Winter and Spring, then possibly turning towards La Nina in the Summer.
IRI Consensus Plume: The Oct 2019 Plume depicts temps are at +0.25 degs, and are to hold in the +0.25 deg range into May 2020, then fading slightly to +0.15 in June 2020. See chart here - link.

Atmospheric Coupling (Indicating the presence of El Nino in the atmosphere driven by the ocean):
Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) (negative is good, positive bad) (1/10): The daily index was positive today at +13.57 and has been positive the last 7 days. The 30 day average was negative and rising at -6.09. The 90 day average was rising slightly at -5.49, suggesting a neutral ENSO pattern was developing.
ESPI Index (like SOI but based on satellite confirmed precipitation. Positive and/or rising is good, negative and/or falling is bad): Dec +0.45, Nov +1.03, Oct +0.27 Sept +1.11, August +0.60, July +0.75, June -0.32, May +1.10, April +0.30, March +1.0, Feb +1.29, Jan +0.193. This index has been steadily positive but still indicates mostly ENSO neutral conditions (not El Nino).

Pacific Decadal Oscillation
Per NOAAs index recent values: June 2017 +0.21, July -0.50, Aug -0.62, Sept -0.25, Oct -0.61, Nov -0.45, Dec -0.13, Jan 2018 +0.29, Feb -0.19, Mar -0.61, April -0.89, May -0.69, June -0.85, July -0.09, Aug -0.43, Sept -0.46, Oct -0.75, Nov -0.78, Dec -0.12, Jan -0.23, Feb -0.55 This continues to look like the warm phase of the PDO, even with La Nina, because the warm PDO appears to be dampening the effects of La Nina. No consistently solid negative readings have occurred since Feb 2014
The Washington/JISAO index (Jan-Dec): June 2017 +0.79, July +0.10, Aug +0.09, Sept +0.32, Oct +0.05, Nov +0.15, Dec +0.50, Jan +0.70. Feb +0.37, Mar -0.05, April +0.11, May +0.11, June -0.04, July +0.11, Aug +0.18, Sept +0.09. No real negative readings have occurred since Dec 2013
The PDO turned from a 16 year negative run (Jan 98-Feb 2014) in early 2014 and has been positive ever since (other than a few months of negative readings in Fall 2016, the result of a turn towards La Nina). Looking at the long term record, it is premature to conclude that we have in-fact turned from the negative phase (La Nina 'like') to the positive phase (El Nino 'like'), but the data strongly suggests that could be a possibility. By the time it is confirmed (4-5 years out), we will be well into it.

See imagery in the ENSO Powertool 

****

External Reference Material: El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), Kelvin Wave


Powerlinessurf Jeff Clark Inside Mavericks

Local Interest

Stormsurf Video Surf Forecast for the week starting Sunday (1/12):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGYkk35QwYQ&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
For automatic notification of forecast updates, subscribe to the Stormsurf001 YouTube channel - just click the 'Subscribe' button below the video.

- - -

NBC News - Climate Change and Surfing: https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/climate-change-good-surfing-other-sports-not-so-much-ncna1017131

Stormsurf and Mavericks on HBO Sports with Bryant Gumbel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luQSYf5sKjQ

Mavericks Invitational Pieces Featuring Stormsurf:
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/how-to-predict-the-best-surfing-waves-EsNiR~0xR5yXGOlOq2MqfA.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/surfs-up-for-mavericks-invitational-in-calif/

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.

Surf Height-Swell Height Correlation Table

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