4.17.23 – After a quiet weekend, swell will start to pick up Monday the 17th. A low-pressure system off the coast of British Columbia is set to send a wave of energy south which will hit us in the form of a wind and ground swell. Waves should steadily increase in size through the day Monday.
By Tuesday another wave of energy approaches us from the south from a storm way off in the South Pacific near Antarctica. This southern hemi swell will be clean and organized but will also be secondary to the northwest swell continuing during the day Tuesday.
Another round of northwest swell arrives on Wednesday to create the largest waves this week. 4 ft waves are looking possible for San Diego. Although winds look to be strong offshore, they should stay fairly light nearshore for most of the week. There will however be times when winds pick up enough to make surfing difficult.
Thursday is when we see the northwest swell really begin to back off as waves decrease in size. Luckily the trough that’s bringing all this swell will stay to the north which is good for our weather. No rain is expected this week and highs should stay cool but nice in the 60s and 70s.
Best Bets
- Wednesday morning and afternoon should have the largest waves with light winds. 3-4 ft are expected on average with periods over 12 seconds.
- Thursday also looks nice as the weather will be warm and waves stay near 3 ft with decent periods. Winds remain light until the evening.
- Tuesday morning and afternoon should be pretty nice as well with winds remaining light. Waves won’t be as big but definitely large enough to have a good time.
MONDAY
The first half of Monday appears to be pretty quiet until we see the northwest swell move in later on in the afternoon. 1-2 foot waves coming in from the southwest are expected for most of the morning with winds staying calm to light. Temps will start out in the low-50s so it will be a bit chilly out there.
By the afternoon the waves both nearshore and offshore will have grown in size. Were still not expecting huge waves, but an increase of about 12 inches in height is possible. This would make for 3 ft waves near San Diego and a few other west faces while other beaches stay closer to 2 ft. Winds also stay light until late in the evening when they pick up out of the west at around 10 mph.
TUESDAY
We’ll start to see some light southern hemisphere swell move in during the day on Tuesday although the northwest swell will overwhelmingly dominate. Waves will range from about 2-3 ft on Tuesday with west facing beaches seeing larger waves. San Diego should see the largest.
Winds manage to stay light through most of the afternoon until the evening when they pick up onshore. 20 mph winds are possible near Ventura County with 10-15 mph winds elsewhere. Tuesday night looks like it could be windy but thankfully those winds calm down in time for sunrise on Wednesday morning.
WEDNESDAY
The second round of ground swell moves in on Wednesday to produce the largest waves that we’ll see all week. A 4 possibly even 5 ft swell is possible for San Diego while other west faces will stay closer to 3 ft. South facing beaches will continue seeing 1-2 ft waves. Periods also look really good with everyone seeing 12 seconds or longer.
Winds stay light and variable through the morning hours making for great surf weather. Most of the afternoon also looks good although an onshore breeze does develop late in the evening with speeds around 10 mph. Sunny skies re anticipated all day with highs in the upper-60s!
THURSDAY
This should be our warmest day as LA could hit 80 degrees while other areas north and south top out in the low to mid-70s under sunny skies. Unfortunately, the swell begins to back off just in time for this warm weather but there should still be enough energy left over to make for a decent surf opportunity.
3 ft waves near San Diego will be the largest we see with 2-3 ft waves for other west faces. The swell gradually dies down through the day but not by too much. The evening should still be pretty similar to the morning in terms of surf size. Winds stay calm through the majority of the day as well until late in the evening when a 10 mph onshore breeze develops.
