After a lot of rain over the past week, we will finally dry out in time for the weekend. The low-pressure system that brought all the rain and wind is slowly exiting the area and that’s going to leave us dry and calm starting Thursday. We still have high-pressure situated over the Central Pacific and that’s going to bring the next low onshore to the west coast this weekend.
The low will make landfall off the coast of British Columbia Saturday night/Sunday morning. We should miss out on most of the rain as it stays to the north, but the low will bring some ground swell to the area although it will be a glancing blow. Winds will blow from the northwest as a front passes Saturday night. Luckily wind speeds won’t be too bad after the passage; in fact, winds stay light through the entire forecast period.
The front will, however, do a great job of keeping our temperatures cool through the weekend. Highs will drop by a few degrees on Sunday with most locations struggling to get out of the upper-50s. Low-60s are expected Friday and Saturday. Overnight lows will stay consistently cold through the weekend with 40s expected.
Because we miss out on a direct hit, our waves will stay on the smaller side from this system. On the Brightside, we expect this to be a ground swell which will really pick up Saturday afternoon. Periods will be around 14 seconds on Saturday making for some very clean waves. Waves look bigger on Sunday but not as clean since winds are expected to pick up. All around it looks like we have some solid surfing weather ahead of us.
Best Bets
-Sunday afternoon looks like the best period to surf. The ground swell will peak around this time and winds won’t be too bad. San Diego will have the best conditions.
-Sunday Morning looks almost as good except for having chilly temps with everyone starting out in the 40s. Winds will be lighter compared to the afternoon too.
-Friday and Saturday will have calm to very light winds but waves will stay very small, could be good for beginners.
FRIDAY MORNING
There should be some left-over energy from the previous storm system as a NW ground swell will be in place for Friday. The ground swell will start out small, and diminish through the day, but at least there will be no winds making for somewhat decent conditions. We’re expecting a 2-3 ft swell towards San Diego with 1-2 ft waves expected elsewhere.
The sun will be out across the area with a few early morning clouds possible. Any existing clouds should burn off by the afternoon. Temps look to be pretty chilly though, with everyone starting the day out in the mid-40s; definitely a good time to wear a wetsuit. With no winds it shouldn’t feel that bad outdoors, especially since the sun will be out.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON
High temps will reach the low-60s from San Diego up to Santa Barbara making for a pleasant afternoon with sunny skies. Winds will also stay on the calm side with light variable to no winds expected all day. Overall, pretty quiet weather is anticipated for Friday.
As mentioned earlier, the swell will continue to decrease through the afternoon so surfing may not be worth it for those hoping to catch decent sized waves. This may, however, be a good time for beginners to try surfing for the first time as waves stay between 1-2 ft. Periods should stay between 14-16 seconds south of LA with a greater variation in lengths to the north.
SATURDAY MORNING
Waves are going to remain small through the morning as the ground swell weakens further. Saturday morning will basically be a continuation of Friday’s weather in terms of light winds and surf. 1-2 ft waves are expected up and down the coast with nice period lengths between 12-14 seconds.
Cold air is expected with temps in the 40s through the morning; the possible exception being San Diego which could stay in the low-50s. Like Friday, sunny skies and light winds will compensate for the cold air to make for a fairly nice morning.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
The first half of the afternoon should stay pretty calm like how the morning is expected to be. Things become more interesting after about 3 pm. This is when the next round of ground swell is forecasted to begin moving in. Most probably won’t notice at first, but the waves will subtly become bigger especially after nightfall.
Waves will still stay unimpressive for most of the afternoon. On average, expect 1-2, possibly 3 ft waves across the area with the largest waves near the border. Winds may pick up a little as well with a light NW breeze coming in around 10 mph.
SUNDAY MORNING
The winds continue through Saturday night and into Sunday morning with sustained speeds around 10 mph from the NW. By sunrise you should be able to see a difference in wave size and maybe air temperature as the front will bring temps down 3-4 degrees compared to Saturday. 3-5 ft waves are expected near San Diego with a 3 ft swell expected for Ventura. Other locations should see at least 2 ft heights.
Increasing waves will stem from ground swell out of the NW although some of the increase in height will be from onshore winds. Models show periods staying decent around this time around 12-14 seconds. Aside from the light onshore winds and cooler air, this looks like it could be a solid time to surf.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Sunday afternoon will arguably be the best time to surf. Although temps may be a little cooler than Saturday, we’ll have sunshine, light winds, and nice waves making for a pretty nice day. Winds will continue from the northwest parallel to most beaches or slightly onshore for others. Speeds will be 5-10 mph south of LA and 10-15 mph for areas north.
Waves stay consistent from the morning into the afternoon with a 4-5 ft NW ground swell possible around San Diego. Ventura looks like it will have the next best waves around 3 ft. with nice periods of at least 12 seconds. Temps will approach 60 degrees with mostly sunny skies!
