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 Saturday (6/18) North and Central California was seeing shoulder high locally generated northwest windswell and warbled with no real southern hemi swell indicated at south facing breaks. Southern California had thigh high northwest windswell wrapping in up north with clean but warbled conditions early. Down south it was maybe thigh high and clean, coming out of the south. Hawaii's North Shore was flat and clean. The East Shore was the standout with shoulder to head high easterly tradewind generated windswell and chopped. The South Shore had no real southern hemi swell with waves knee high or less with clean conditions.
See QuikCASTs for the 5 day surf overview or read below for the detailed view
Meteorological Overview
In the North Pacific only the local California pressure gradient over Cape Mendocino is to have any windswell production potential, building some on Sunday (6/19) then fading fast Monday AM, only to rebuild on Thursday (6/23) and Friday before crashing into the coast on Saturday and dissipating. A new gale developed under New Zealand then lifted northeast with seas in the 36-38 ft range Wednesday evening (6/15), then started fading Thursday while continuing northeast. Decent odds for significant class Swell #5S pushing up into Hawaii with unshadowed but very modest sized swell possible for the US West Coast. Another quirky little system built Thursday (6/16) and forecast tracking almost due north up the South American coast through Friday (6/17) with up to 36 ft seas, but east of any great circle track up into the US. Still it should send very south angled swell towards Central America, Peru and Northern Chile. The remnants of Storm #5S continue to circulate in the deep Central Pacific with seas 32 ft on Sat AM (6/18) and are forecast to rejuvenate on Sunday to 36 ft, but mostly aimed due east. Background swell possible. Beyond that a total shutdown of the southern hemi is projected.
SHORT- TERM FORECAST
Current marine weather and wave analysis.cgius forecast conditions for the next 72 hours
North Pacific
Overview
At
the surface on Saturday (6/18) high pressure at 1028 mbs was positioned 1200 nmiles west of San Francisco almost ridging into the Pacific Northwest and forming a minimal pressure gradient over the North CA coast with northwest winds there at 20 kts and fading, resulting in bare minimal northwest windswell pushing down the Central CA coast. This high was also driving modest trades over the Hawaiian Islands at near 20 kts and generating moderate short period windswell at exposed east facing breaks. Over the next 72 hours high pressure is to ease east a little and rebuild the pressure gradient along the North CA coast on Sunday (6/19) with north winds back up to 25-30 kts resulting in an increase in north windswell for Central CA, then faltering by Monday AM with winds down to 20-25 kts and holding with windswell on the decline some. Trades to hold over Hawaii at 15+ kt range through Sunday (6/19) resulting in more modest easterly windswell there (see QuikCASTs) then fading on Monday if not nearly gone. No other swell producing weather systems are forecast.
North Pacific Animations: Jetstream - Surface Pressure/Wind - Sea Height - Surf Height
Tropics
No tropical storm activity of interest is being monitored.
California Nearshore Forecast
On Saturday AM (6/18) high pressure at 1030 mbs remained positioned 1200 nmiles west of San Francisco forming a modest pressure gradient along the Central CA coast and generating 20-25 kt northwest winds off Pt Arena with a bit of an eddy flow from San Francisco southward. Pretty mixed up local conditions, but not horrible. Sunday the gradient is to fire back up with 25-30 kt north winds forecast over Cape Mendocino and 15 kt north winds from Pt Reyes southward to Pt Conception. The gradient is to lift north on Monday and fade to 25 kts with an eddy flow filling in from Pt Arena southward and holding into Tuesday. But by Wednesday (6/22) the gradient is to again start building with 25+ kt north winds building over Cape Mendocino and easing south while an eddy flow (southerly winds) holds from Bodega Bay southward. The gradient is to continue building on Thursday (6/23) with 30 kt north winds forecast and the eddy flow starting to get overtaken with the gradient fully invading local waters on Friday with north winds 20 kt and up to 25+ kts from Monterey Bay northward. Chop in full effect and unprotected breaks from Pt Conception northward and continuing unabated into Saturday, but with the gradient starting to loose it's punch later in the day. The model actually depict a little low pressure system dropping down the PAcific Northwest coast then moving towards California with rain indicated off the Pacific Northwest coast. Hard to believe.
South Pacific
Overview
On Saturday (6/18) the jetstream had southward pushing ridges over both the West and East with a bit of a trough over the Central region. This trough is the remnants from a stronger trough that was off New Zealand earlier last week. It had 120-130 kt winds flowing up into it, offering some support for gale formation. Over the next 72 hours that trough is to push east and fade by Monday(6/20) offering less and less support for gale formation. Beyond 72 hours a large ridge is to be pushing hard south under New Zealand by Tuesday (6/21) and increasing coverage over the entire South Pacific 24 hours later sweeping down into Antarctica, with reinforcements following a similar path and totally eliminating support for gale development through at least Sat 6/25. There's some suggestion of a new trough forming alongside of New Zealand then, but it is to be very weak. At least it's something to provide a glimmer of hope.
At the surface on Saturday AM (6/18) the remnants of Storm #5S were still circulating in the trough over the Central Pacific with 40 kt southwest fetch still at 51S 158W generating 29-30 ft seas at 48S 152W. Additional 40-45 kt southwest fetch is forecast in the evening at 54S 152W resulting in more 29-30 ft seas at 52S 152W. Sunday AM (6/19) a solid fetch of 40-45 kts west-southwest winds are forecast at 49S 142W resulting in a tiny are of 36 ft seas at 50S 146W. By evening the fetch is to start pushing fully west to east at 40 kts at 48S 130W with 36 ft seas forecast at 47S 137W but starting to take aim only on South America. Maybe some more fetch to continue into Monday Am with 34 ft seas at 47S 127W, but again aimed all at Chile. Background swell possible for California at best, with most energy likely for Southern Mainland Mexico down into Central and South America.
No other swell producing weather systems forecast.
Storm #5S - Hawaii
On Tuesday (6/14) a co.cgiex low pressure system was trying to organize just southeast of New Zealand generating a fetch of 35-40 kt southwest winds just under the southern tip of NZ and getting traction on the oceans surface. Seas were building to 30 ft at 55S 168E (216 NCal and unshadowed, 201 HI). By evening the fetch was better defined at 40 kts and aimed almost due north with 30 ft seas holding at 52S 173E. By Wednesday AM (6/15) a solid fetch of 40-45 kt south winds were building just east of southern New Zealand resulting in 34 ft seas at 49S 177E pushing right up the 214 degree path to NCal (217 SCal) and well up the 197 degree path to HI. The Jason-1 satellite made a pass over the eastern periphery of the storm at 18Z and reported at 15 reading sea average at 28.9 ft with one reading to 34.8 where the model suggested 29 ft seas. The model was right on track. In the evening 40 kt south fetch continued pushing north with a tiny dot of 38 ft seas peaking at 48S 175W aimed right up the 214 degree path to NCal (unshadowed) 217 SCal and well up the 193 degree path to HI. Nice. Thursday AM (6/16) more 40-45 kt south fetch was blowing with a broad area of 34 ft seas at 42N 170W pushing right up the 213 degree path to NCal (unshadowed), the 215 degree path to SCal (becoming shadowed by Tahiti) and a bit east of the 188 degree path to Hawaii. By evening the core of this system was receding while starting to falling to the southeast with all swell generation potential fading off fast. Residual seas from previous fetch to 32 ft at 40S 165W (212 degs NCal and unshadowed, 215 degs SCal and shadowed, and pushed pretty well east of the 185 deg path to HI).
At this time it seems pretty certain that a decent push of southern hemi swell could be moving towards Hawaii from (4084 nmiles away) resulting in the best size there given it's close proximity, with lesser swell pushing towards California from 5663 nmiles away.
Hawaii: Expect swell arrival Tuesday AM (6/21) with period 20 secs and size tiny but building through the day, with pure swell reaching 3.6 ft @ 18 secs at sunset (6.5 ft faces with sets to maybe 9 ft). Swell to peak Wednesday 9 AM with pure swell 4.1 ft @ 17 secs at sunrise (7 ft faces with sets to 9 ft) fading slightly as the day progresses and period drops to 16 secs. Swell to continue solid on Thursday though down some from it's peak, with pure swell 4.0 ft @ 15 secs (6 ft with sets to 8 ft) at sunrise and slowly setting down. Swell dropping on Friday (6/24) from 3.0 ft @ 14 secs (5 ft faces) and heading down from there. Swell Direction: 188-196 degrees
Southern CA: Expect swell arrival starting near 6 PM Thursday (6/23) with period 19 secs and size tiny if even noticeable. Swell to slowly be building through the day Friday (6/24) with pure swell building late afternoon to 2.3 ft @ 17-18 secs (4.0 ft faces with sets to 5.5 ft). Swell to continue, peaking on Saturday AM (6/25) with pure swell 3.0 ft @ 16 secs early (5.0 ft faces with sets to 6.0 ft). Decent 15 sec energy to continue into Sunday (6/26) at 3.0 ft @ 15 secs (4.5 ft faces), then fading. Swell DIrection: 213-217 degrees
Northern CA: Expect swell arrival starting near 10 PM Thursday (6/23) with period 19 secs and size tiny if even noticeable. Swell to slowly be building through the day Friday (6/24) with pure swell building near sunset to 2.3 ft @ 18 secs (4.0 ft faces with sets to 5.5 ft). Swell to peak Saturday AM (6/25) with pure swell 3.0 ft @ 16 secs early (5.0 ft faces with sets to 6.0 ft), with period settling down early afternoon. Decent 15 sec energy to continue into Sunday (6/26) at 3.0 ft @ 15 secs (4.5 ft faces), then fading. Swell DIrection: 211-215 degrees
Chilean System (reference material only)
A storm was forming just off Southern Chile on Thursday AM (6/16) with 50-55 kt south winds aimed due north towards Peru and up into Central America at 42S 97W with seas building from 34 ft. But this system was well east of any great circle path into California. This system peaked out through the day Thursday (6/16) with up to 36 ft seas in the evening at 37S 92W then slowly faded while drifting yet further north on Friday (6/17) with 36 ft seas in the AM at 33S 91W and then fading from 30 ft in the evening at 30S 92W. This system made amazing headway up into the northern reaches of the South Pacific with a solid swell likely for Chile, Peru on up to Panama and Costa Rica given it's close proximity to the coast, but not much into mainland Mexico.
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 high pressure is to start rebuilding over the East Pacific by Wednesday (6/22) ridging into the North CA coast resulting in more 25 kt north winds off Cape Mendocino building to 30 kts on Thursday and holding into early Saturday AM (6/25) resulting in more moderate northwest windswell for the Central CA coast. But trades to not exceed 15 kts over the Hawaiian islands starting Tues (6/21) and holding there through the middle of the workweek with a downward trend in local easterly windswell expected. A bit of an increase in trades back to the 15 kts solid on later Thursday into Friday (6/24) is indicated with the associated increase in windswell possible, but only very modest.
MJO/ENSO Update
As of Saturday (6/18) the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was down more. The daily SOI was up slightly at -18.91. The 30 day average was down to 2.39 with the 90 day average down some to 10.12.
Wind anomalies as of Friday (6/17) at the 850 mb level (approx 5000 ft up) as defined by models indicated a modest area of westerly anomalies indicative of the Active Phase of the MJO over the Eastern Indian Ocean eastward to the Philippines and a bit east of there. Nothing impressive at all though. This area is forecast to hold and not move any through 6/22, then dissipate on 6/27 with a neutral pattern in control into 7/7. This is again a bit of a downgrade from previous forecasts.
Sea Surface Temp anomaly data (6/16) is effectively unchanged and continues to indicate that cooler waters (-1 C degs) had a grip on the equator covering from a point south of Hawaii to the dateline but steadily loosing coverage. The larger issue was cooler than normal waters present in feeder bands originating off the US West Coast (actually they have gotten colder the past few weeks due to the increase in the California high) and somewhat colder ones off Chile sweeping fully to the intersection of the dateline and the equator, serving to continue the existing La Nina pattern. This is typically what is referred to as a horseshoe pattern. These colder waters are a reflection of stronger than normal high pressure that built in over both hemispheres in the winter causing upwelling in the Gulf of Alaska and off South America, though it looks like the upwelling effect was stronger in the southern hemi than in the north. Regardless, the cooler waters in the North Pacific continue to slowly relent in spurts as are the cool temps over the equator. Warmer than normal waters are building over the Galapagos Islands and over a very narrow band west of there almost to the dateline and continue slowly increasing in coverage in fits and spurts. And tongues of warmer water are positioned in the both the Northwest and Southwest Hemispheres trying to make inroads to the east but not very effectively. Interestingly is the new emergence of a cold tongue of water in the tropical Atlantic, tracking west from Africa on the equator to nearly South America (the exact opposite of what's occurring in the tropical Pacific). For now the big picture still looks like a La Nina, though slowly fading and trying to turn neutral if not something more.
Below the surface on the equator there had previously been indications of Kevin Wave activity. Colder than normal water that had been locked all winter southeast of Hawaii under the equator evaporated in late February and moved to dead neutral presumably from the effects of two consecutive bouts of the Active Phase of the MJO which in turn might have driven a Kelvin Wave. In parallel warmer than normal water had edged east from the West Pacific, previously up +2 degrees above normal and positioned due south of Hawaii (150W) under the equator through 3/22. But an impenetrable wall at 140W separating the warm anomalies, and cool anomalies east of there was blocking any eastward progress of warmer subsurface water. Then on 4/4, it appeared that that wall was fading if not gone entirely by 4/7 and by 4/19 a small but steady finger of normal to slightly warmer (0 to +1 deg C) water started flowing east making it to the equatorial East Pacific up at 100-150 meters and building some. Almost +1 degrees anomalies tracked from the West Pacific to the East Pacific short of one small break at 160W as of 5/1. On 5/7 a small pool of negative temperature water started to make a faint showing at 140W and was holding through 6/5, presumably driven by the previous Inactive Phase of the MJO. On 5/26 it appeared more warm water was pushing through the subsurface current heading towards Central America, possible a new Kelvin Wave and the likely result of the latest Active Phase of the MJO. By 6/18 +1 degree anomalies covered the entire subsurface current other than one little break at 140-150W with up to 2 degree anomalies embedded in the larger flow in the west and east. It would be best to see warm anomalies down to 200 meters in the east, but the current state is the best it's been in 9 months and suggestive of a near normal subsurface thermocline, and continuing to get better by the day. The thought is this normalization of the subsurface flow will eventually affect water temps at the surface and then the atmosphere above it (6 months later). So all this is a step in the right direction though slow evolving.
Over the entire Equatorial Pacific trades were blowing all the way to the Philippines and beyond. From a historical perspective these easterly winds were 'normal' with only light easterly anomalies persisting in the far Western Pacific.
We did some analysis on ocean currents on the Pacific equator this year an found anomalies developed flowing from west to east starting in February and were continuing through June 2011 (a little weaker towards mid-June than earlier in the month). We oft look at such symptoms as an El Nino indicator, but that does not seem likely given all the other data. But that co.cgied with a falling SOI at least it depicts a tendency towards normal conditions. Will monitor. Historically it is very unlikely if not impossible to have an El Nino form directly behind a La Nina. More typical is several years of a slow buildup before an actual El Nino event occurs. This suggest the warm waters currently pooling up off Ecuador will likely dissipate as summer progresses but at the same time, the cooler than normal horseshoe pattern over the North and South Pacific will dissipate too.
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 Fall of 2011 (and likely to early 2012) in the upper atmosphere regardless of how quickly La Nina's demise occurs in the ocean. In short, it's going to be tough for surfers on west facing shores in the Eastern Pacific and Eastern Atlantic, though east facing shores of the West Pacific and Atlantic might do well from the Inactive Phase's dominance, especially in 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 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. Best bet's at this time are for an enhanced tropical season in the Atlantic (2011).
See more details in the El Nino update.
South Pacific
Beyond 72 hours a large gale is forecast forming in the deep Southeast Pacific on Friday (6/24) building to huge proportions in the evening with winds solid at 45 kts at 62S 120W and seas 33 ft at 57S 118W pushing up the 180 degree path into Southern California, then easing east Saturday AM (6/25) with more 45-50 kt fetch at 60S 115W and a large area of 38 ft seas forecast at 53S 110W targeting South America and only on the increase. OF course this is all just a projection on the very edge of the models ability, so odds of anything developing are remote. Still, it's the only ting projected capable of producing surf, so we'll keep and eye on it.
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
KICK OFF TO SUMMER PARTY at the Mavericks Surf Shop on Saturday, June 18, from Noon to 5 p.m. There will be food, drinks, live music, product giveaways, a special showing of our new women's swimwear by Toes on the Nose, and our new summer line of Mavericks gear. We hope you can join us! 25 Johnson Pier, Pillar Point Harbor, Half Moon Bay
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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Casa Noble Tequila If you are looking for an exquisite experience in fine tequila tasting, one we highly recommend, try Case Noble. Consistently rated the best tequila when compared to any other. Available at BevMo (in California). Read more here: http://www.casanoble.com/ |
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
