Your Weekend Best Bets for OC, LA and SD

4.27.23 – The wind swell that’s set to dominate for the latter half of this week will finally back off Thursday and into Friday to make way for another round of Southern Hemisphere swell. A low off the coast of Antarctica sent a piece of energy northward almost two weeks ago which is finally set to arrive in SoCal in time for this weekend.

Friday morning will start out with a moderate sized southwest swell which will build throughout the day. Waves will likely peak in size at some point Saturday morning before slowly decreasing in size through the rest of the day Saturday and into Sunday. 3 ft waves are expected along our south facing beaches with the best conditions being around Orange County.

South facing beaches near Santa Barbara and Long beach look like a no-go for this weekend as they will have the smallest waves around 1 ft due to the islands blocking incoming waves from the south.

High-pressure will inch closer to us from the west over the coming weekend and that should help keep our winds light and our weather nice. San Diego will see highs in the low-70s for this weekend with Los Angeles starting in the upper-70s on Friday and reaching the mid-80s Saturday and Sunday. Santa Barbara will stay a bit cooler in the upper-60s but the weather should stay pretty nice.

Sunday night and into Monday is when the weather will likely change as a low moves in from the northwest bringing in wind and a wind swell. Rain may also accompany the low for early next week but for right now its still a bit too early to tell what will happen.

Best Bets

  • Saturday morning from Ventura County down to Oceanside will see the largest and cleanest waves of the weekend with very little wind. 3 ft heights are expected with 16 seconds periods.
  • Friday night also looks very nice with around 3 ft heights south of Ventura County and north of Oceanside. Waves may be slightly smaller than that of Saturday morning.
  • Malibu will see slightly smaller waves but they should be just as clean as Ventura County during the same time period.

See the 10 Day Forecast

FRIDAY

The morning hours start out quiet with little to no wind anywhere. Morning temps look pretty consistent across SoCal with everyone in the upper-50s, possibly a little cooler near Santa Barbara. Temps warm up nicely though, Los Angeles making it into the upper-70s, San Diego in the low-70s and Santa Barbara staying cooler in the mid-60s. 

A light onshore breeze will develop by mid afternoon but speeds will stay incredibly light between 0-5 mph. Orange County and southward will see speeds closer to 5 mph. The southwest ground swell looks largest between Oceanside and Huntington Beach, although Malibu and Oxnard are also looking a pretty decent waves around 3 feet. Waves will gradually increase by a few inches through the day Friday and 16 second periods are expected.

SATURDAY

It looks like waves peak some point Saturday morning although waves sizes won’t look too much different from that of Friday night. Between Oceanside and Huntington Beach will likely have the best waves around 3 ft with 16 second periods. Waves die down through the day around Malibu to finish with 2 ft heights by the evening. But beaches south of Los Angeles will see their waves maintain strength through the day.

Unfortunately, it looks like winds may pick up for the afternoon for areas south of Orange Count which is where waves are expected to be the best. Don’t worry too much though because winds don’t look too strong with a 10 mph onshore breeze developing at the strongest. Temps on Saturday look even better than Friday with Los Angeles warming up into the mid-80s, Santa Barbara topping out in the upper-60s, and San Diego reaching the mid-70s.

SUNDAY

Winds appear to die down overnight to near calm conditions area wide by Sunday morning. Thankfully, it should stay this way until late in the night when our next system moves in from the northwest. Orange County towards Oceanside still look like they will have the best waves around 3 ft coming in from the south. Malibu toward Ventura County will see the next best waves around 2 ft.  

The southern hemi swell backs off even further during the day on Sunday so you’re going to want to get out as early as possible. Morning temps look comfortable with everyone between 55 and 60 degrees. Afternoon temps warm up to near 80 for Los Angeles and near 70 for San Diego and Santa Barbara to make for another very nice afternoon.

See the 10 Day Forecast

Related Posts

Yep… Rain In The Forecast Again, But Combo Swell In The Mix – SoCal

The week will start off pretty quiet with light northwest combo swell from...

Spring Mix, Red Tide and Colder Water Temps | S. California Weekly Forecast

Overview  4/29/22 – 5/5/22:  Not as much swell as last week, but we...