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 Sunday (8/26) North and Central CA had local north windswell producing waves in the thigh to waist high range and clean but a little warbled early. Down south in Santa Cruz surf was effectively flat and clean. Southern California up north was flat with northwest winds adding some solid texture on top. Down south background southern hemi swell was producing some thigh to waist high sets and heavily textured by northwest wind. Hawaii's North Shore was flat and clean with trades in effect. The South Shore was effectively flat with only windswell wrapping in at knee high or so. The East Shore report was not available.
See QuikCASTs for the 5 day surf overview or read below for the detailed view
Meteorological Overview
Up north high pressure had retrograded away from the US West Coast with weak low pressure off the Pacific Northwest not really generating any fetch, just serving only to start ridging into the US West Coast shut down local windswell production. Trades were in the 15 kt range over Hawaii and not doing too much in regards to windswell production. Beyond high pressure is to move stronger to the east by Wed (8/29) with winds in the 15-20 kts range over Central CA with the core of the fetch lifting north into Friday and windswell on the way up. Fetch to fade some but still hold in some capacity through the weekend with windswell hanging on. Trades to hold in the 15 kt range for Hawaii through the week producing minimal east windswell with the fetch area growing solid by the weekend with windswell coming up some. There some rumors of the remnants of Typhoon Bolaven regenerating in the extreme Northwest Pacific next weekend, but that is more fantasy than reality.
Down south Storm #2S tracked from the deep South-Central Pacific heading northeast with seas in the 35-38 ft range. Swell from it is in the water pushing northeast towards the US West Coast and locations down into Central and South America. But beyond no swell production is forecast.
SHORT- TERM FORECAST
Current marine weather and wave analysis.cgius forecast conditions for the next 72 hours
North Pacific
Overview
Surface - On Sunday (8/26) the North Pacific high pressure system was retrograded west away from the US Coast with low pressure in it's.cgiace off the Pacific Northwest better generating 20 kt north winds possibly sending tiny windswell down the coast towards exposed breaks in CA. The southern quadrant of the high was also producing easterly trades over the Hawaiian Islands and open waters east of there at about 15 kts, just barely enough to produce minimal easterly windswell for the Islands.
Over the next 72 hours the low is to move inland allowing the high is to ease east over North CA tightening the pressure gradient along the Central California coast with north winds building to 20 kts on Wed (8/29) likely producing raw and minimally sized local windswell there. The gradient is to build slightly in the days beyond while lifting north peaking over Cape Mendocino on Friday with winds to 25 kts allowing a bit more windswell to develop, then fetch fading to the 20 kt range over the weekend and holding with the typical eddy developing over the Central CA coast. Rideable windswell to hold, but nothing more. As the high eases east trades to building in areal coverage east of the Hawaiian Islands at 15 kts starting Tuesday (8/28) through Friday and then building in coverage a bit more over the weekend. All this should increase the odds for minimal windswell along east facing shores, but nothing more.
North Pacific Animations: Jetstream - Surface Pressure/Wind - Sea Height - Surf Height
Tropics
On Sunday (8/26):
Typhoon Tembin had made landfall off southern Taiwan on Thursday (8/23) with winds 110 kts (125 mph) tracking west, passing over Taiwan then did a full 180 degree turn in the China Sea regaining some winds speed now (on Sunday) at 85 kts and getting ready to rehit the southern tip of Taiwan on Monday and raking the east coast while traveling north eventually hitting Shanghai and traveling up the China coast and fading through the end of the week. No swell is suggested for our forecast area.
Typhoon Bolaven was 250 nmiles southwest of the southern tip of Japan with sustained winds 105 kts tracking slowly north-northwest. It is expected to continue on this north-northwest track through early Tuesday (8/28) with winds fading to 80 kts before moving inland over North Korea. Remnants to moving on north over China with the GFS model suggesting remnants of this system re-emerging off Kamchatka on Saturday (see North Pacific long term forecast).
California Nearshore Forecast
On Sunday (8/26) a weak westerly flow was in control of North and Central CA waters with winds below 15 kts. A weak eddy flow was over Southern CA. No change is forecast until Tuesday when low pressure clears out up north and high pressure starts to ridging into the CA coast with north winds building over North and Central CA at 15+ kts. 20 kt north winds to be in control Wednesday nearshore for North and Central CA and growing in coverage through Thursday. Finally Friday the gradient and north winds are to start lifting north over Cape Mendocino with a weak eddy flow (south winds) setting up over the Central CA coast becoming more pronounced over the weekend.
South Pacific
Overview
Jet stream - We're thinking of starting to switch jetstream monitoring to the North Pacific. But for now we'll continue Southern Pacific monitoring.
On Sunday (8/26) a .cgiit jetstream pattern remained locked over much of the South Pacific with the southern branch di.cgiaced well to the south under New Zealand then lifting northeast and feeding into a big trough over the Southeast Pacific. This trough has been feeding Storm #2S. Winds were still up 110 kts in one pocket in that trough, but otherwise winds were anemic. Limited support in the trough for more gale force winds relative to Storm #2S. Over the next 72 hours the southern branch of the jet is to effectively evaporate winds winds falling below 70 kts offering no support for gale development. Beyond 72 hours winds in the southern branch to rebuild slightly to the 80-90 kts range in a few pockets in the west but not strong enough and with no trough present to aid in gale development. But by Monday (9/3) there's some suggestions of a trough starting to build in the Southwest Pacific perhaps offering some hope long term. A ridge is to be building in the East shutting gale production down.
Surface - At the surface in the South Pacific the last of Storm #2S is fading in the extreme Southeast Pacific (see details below). No other fetch of interest was occurring. On Monday (8/27) there is suggestions that a slightly resurgence of Storm #2S is to occur with 45 kt southwest winds building for 12 hours producing 32 ft seas at 47S 122W mid-day holding into the evening aimed directly at southern Chile. Doubtful much if any energy will radiate north towards California.
Storm #2S - Southeast Pacific
On Thursday AM (8/23) a storm developed over Antarctic Ice with a moderate sized area of 45-50 kt southwest winds becoming exposed over ice free waters north of there with seas building to 34 ft over a modest area at 58S 160W. The Jason-1 satellite passe south of the fetch at 15Z and reported seas of 36.1 ft with a peak reading to 39.7 ft where the model suggested 32 ft seas. Nice. That fetch lifted north in the evening with winds down to 40 kts and seas modeled at 38 ft at 55S 151W targeting California up the 199 degree path and east of the Tahiti swell shadow. The Jason-1 satellite passed over the north quadrant of the fetch and reported seas of 35.5 ft with a peak reading of 41.2 ft where the model suggested only 32 ft seas.
Winds built Friday AM at 40-45 kts over a smaller area still lifting and aimed north-northeast with seas 38 ft at 51S 144W (194 degs CA). Again the Jason-1 satellite passed over the south quadrant of the fetch reporting seas of 30.7 ft with a peak at 37.7 ft where the model suggested 28 ft seas. These winds surprisingly held into the evening at 45 kts with seas fading from 36 ft at 46S 138W (191 degs CA). The satellite passed south of the fetch and reported seas at 33.3 ft with a peak to 40.4 ft where the model suggested only barely 28 ft seas.
Additional 40-45 kts more westerly fetch occurred Saturday AM (9/25) with 36 ft seas at 46S 128W (186 degs CA) and continuing if not building more solidly at 45 kts into the evening but aimed more if not almost due east. 38 ft seas were tracking east from 44S 120W and starting to move out of the CA swell window. The Jason-1 satellite passed over the Western quadrant of the storm reporting seas at 30.6 ft with one readying to 39.7 ft where the model suggested only 29 ft seas. Another good sign.
45 kt fetch was pushing east Sunday AM (8/26) on the edge of the CA swell window with a small area of 36 ft seas at 45S 113W (out of the CA swell window) tracking fast east and offering only swell for Chile and maybe Peru with 32 ft seas in the CA swell window at 42S 120W. The Jason-1 satellite confirmed seas at 32.6 ft with one peak reading to 37.1 ft just west of the core of the gale. the model had seas at 34 ft. Winds fading from 35 kts in the evening with no seas in the California swell window and 32 ft seas fading at 47S 105W targeting Chile. A quick fade after that.
This system exceeded expectations and developed stronger than originally forecast. We haven't seen that in a long time. Additionally the Jason-1 satellite made mult.cgie passed over the fetch and the data come back better than what the models were suggesting every time. All passes were over the periphery of the storm, but this suggest s it might have been even stronger than what was modeled. This all looks very promising. And in regards to California, the storm pushed well to the north likely setting up significant class energy pushing towards the CA coast. Swell is already in the water and pushing north and northeast. Solid energy is also bound down into Central America with additional fetch later in the storm life forecast aimed more to the east, targeting Chile and Peru. And even small sideband energy is to radiating up into Hawaii from the first day of the storms life off Antarctic Ice. Will monitor.
Hawaii: Expect swell arrival on Wednesday (8/29) moving to 1.5 ft @ 20 secs (3.0-3.5 ft) at sunset. Swell to peak on Thursday (8/30) AM at 1.8 ft @ 18 secs (3.5 ft with sets to 4.0 ft) holding through the day as period drops a little. Residuals on Friday (8/31) with swell fading from 1.6 ft @ 16 secs early (2.5-3.0 ft). Swell fading Saturday (9/1) from 1.4 ft @ 14 secs (2 ft). Swell Direction: 178-180 degrees.
Southern CA: Expect swell arrival starting Thursday (8/30) with period 23 secs dropping to 22 seas late and size maybe to 1.6 ft (3.5 ft with sets to 4.5 ft). On Friday (8/31) size to steadily be on the increasing from 2.6 ft @ 20 secs (5.2 ft with sets to 6.5 ft) pushing to 3.3 ft @ 19 secs late 6.3 ft with sets to 7.8 ft) at sunset. Swell to start peaking overnight into Saturday AM (9/1) at 3.6 ft @ 17-18 secs (6.3 ft with sets to 7.9 ft) and occasional readings to 3.7 ft @ 18 secs (6.5-8.0 ft) with period falling to 17 secs late. Swell from the original fetch to start settling down on Sunday AM (9/2) with swell still in the 3.0-3.3 ft @ 15-16 sec range (4.5-5.3 ft with sets to 6.5 ft) with additional sideband energy arriving from a very southerly direction at 2.2 ft @ 17-18 secs (3.9 ft with sets to 4.8 ft). Swell Direction: Initially 192-197 degrees turning to 180 degrees
North CA: Expect swell arrival starting Thursday night (8/30) with period 23 secs and size maybe to 1 ft and likely not noticeable. On Friday (8/31) size to steadily be on the increase pushing 2.7 ft @ 19-20 secs at sunset (5.3 ft with sets to 6.5 ft). Swell to start peaking on Saturday AM (9/1) at 3.3 ft @ 18 secs (6.0 ft with sets to 7.5 ft) and occasional readings to 3.6 ft @ 18 secs (6.5-8.0 ft) with period fading towards 17 secs late. Swell from the original fetch to start settling down on Sunday AM (9/2) with swell still in the 3.0-3.3 ft @ 16 sec range (4.8-5.3 ft with sets to 6.6 ft) with additional sideband energy arriving from a very southerly direction at 2.2 ft @ 18 secs (4.0 ft with sets to 5 ft). Swell Direction: Initially 191-196 degrees turning to 180 degrees
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 hours other than windswell previously discussed there is some suggestion the remnants of Typhoon Bolaven are to try and redevelop while pushing east off Kamchatka with winds 30-35 kts initially on Sat (9/1) with seas 16 ft, then quickly fading. No swell to result, but it is something to monitor. Otherwise no swell producing fetch of interest is forecast.
No signs of Fall on the models.
MJO/ENSO Update
Note: 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 equatorial Pacific it is in control of, and in it's Active Phase by slack if not an outright reversal of trade winds and enhanced 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.cgianet. 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. During the Inactive Phase the jet stream tends to .cgiit resulting in high pressure and less potential for swell producing storm development. 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).
As of Sunday (8/26) the daily Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was in positive territory at 14.32 (5 days in a row positive). The 30 day average was up some at -9.58 with the 90 day average at -6.17. The Inactive Phase of the MJO was in control of the Pacific but has not built anywhere near as strong as what was previously modeled. All this is consistent with a developing El Nino. And the presence of two tropical systems in the far West Pacific (and Typhoon Bolaven developing fairly strong) during the core of the Inactive Phase, also hints to it's weakness.
Current equatorial wind analysis indicated weak but broad coverage of light east anomalies extending from the dateline into the Maritime Continent (WPac). Light east anomalies were also over the Central Pacific from the dateline to a point south of Hawaii and then neutral from there into Central America. This suggests the Inactive Phase was over the West Pacific, but just barely (a good thing for maintaining the warm water pump). A week from now (9/3) neutral anomalies are forecast to take hold over the West Pacific extending east into Central America. This suggests the Inactive Phase will fade a week out. If this.cgiays out as forecast, that would not be a bad outcome, suggesting at best an anemic Inactive Phase.
The longer range models (dynamic and statistical) run on 8/25 are in disagreement with the statistical model suggesting the Inactive Phase is to die over the next 5 days with the Active Phase building slightly in the Indian Ocean and pushing east reaching the West Pacific a week out (9/2) and building mildly through 2 weeks out. Interestingly the dynamic model has the Inactive Phase rebuilding 2 weeks out. So a total contrary forecast is presented by the two models. For now we'll continue to be somewhat concerned that this Inactive Phase could redevelop and degrade what is already a weak eastward moving warm water transport pattern (feeding the warm pool off Ecuador and Columbia).
More warm water in the equatorial East Pacific means more storm production in the North Pacific during winter months (roughly speaking). Warmer than normal water accumulated off Ecuador through 7/2 (part of a continuous pattern that started in Jan 2012) fueled by a Kelvin Wave, weaker than normal trades and a MJO pattern dominated by the Active Phase in early April and a continued weak MJO signal beyond. The warm water pattern peaked on 7/2 in an unmistakable El Nino-like configuration. Updates since then through 8/20 indicated some degradation of the warm pool, but areal coverage actually expanded as was no reaching up into Southern CA. Of most interest was the start of degradation of cooler than normal waters (as of the 8/23 update) that have dominated between California and Hawaii. Also something that almost looks like weak Kelvin Wave appears to be propagating east both subsurface (2 deg C anomaly) and at the surface (1 deg C anomaly). If this is real, it would help to r.cgienish the warm water pool.
A weak MJO pattern (both Active and Inactive Phases) is a sign of the weak version of El Nino. Strong Active Phases accompanied by Westerly Wind Bursts (WWB) is a sign of a strong El Nino. Given the data to date, this is looking more like a weak El Nino event at best. As we move into the Fall months (starting late August), the tendency is for whatever pattern has been dominant to only become a.cgiified. In short, the true MJO character will become exposed in Fall, with summer just being a build-up. The expectation is that a near failure of the MJO could occur with trades fading and more slow-but-steady warm water propagation continuing eastward. If this happens the question then becomes: Will it be slow enough and weak enough to turn into a multi-year warm event, or will the atmosphere switch as usual in February 2013 and usher in a new La Nina. It's way to early to know.
At this time there is only limited atmospheric evidence of a possible El Nino pattern in.cgiay (as of 8/21). Remnants of La Nina are still affecting the atmosphere and will likely continue for several months into the middle of Fall (mid-Oct). One such indicator is the continued presence of high pressure over the Eastern Pacific. It has been locked in.cgiace for 2 years now and it's momentum is not going to be easily be halted. The high has caused drought conditions over portions of North America and unrelenting north winds pushing down the California coast and stronger than normal trades over Hawaii. The high is evidenced by a large pool of cooler than normal water radiating southeast off California and over Hawaii reaching the equator at the dateline, the result of enhanced upwelling. But recent imagery suggest the high is shifting west some and north winds along the California coast are becoming less of an issue, with local water temperatures on the rise. This could be attributed to the change in season, or a fading La Nina, or a combination of both. We're in a hybrid atmospheric state but the trend is starting to shift more towards the normal category. The longer the MJO remains biased towards a neutral or Active state, and the longer warm water holds if not builds off Central America, and the more the cool pool fades between CA and Hi, the more the atmosphere will respond (especially come Fall) turning towards at least a neutral if not an El Nino-like configuration. The atmosphere is like a big ship, it takes a long time to turn. We remain on the bubble as of this date. Historical Note: It is unusual for El Nino (of any magnitude) to develop directly following 2 years of La Nina.
As of right now its seems the Active Phases of the MJO are not strong enough to usher in some flavor of real El Nino, but the Inactive Phases are not strong enough to shut off the warm water pump to the East Pacific either. Regardless, we are effectively past the La Nina hump and the tendency will be for a return to a normal if not slightly El Nino-like enhanced state. All this is way better than where we've been for the past 2 years (under the influence of La Nina).
See imagery in the ENSO Powertool and more details in the El Nino update.
South Pacific
Beyond 72 hours no swell producing weather systems are forecast.
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
Chasing Mavericks - The Jay Moriarty Movie: Two trailers for the new movie about Jay, Frosty and Mavericks has been posted. Movie opens on 10/26/12. Here's the link: http://www.mtv.com/videos/movie-trailers/818957/chasing-mavericks.jhtml & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNdYoX9Vfxg&feature=relmfu
Props from the Pros: Stormsurf was mentioned over the past week in two different media sources. One was in an interview Kelly Slater did with the New York Times and another was in a promotional piece Ramon Navarro did for the Big Wave World Tour. Many thanks to Curt Myers from Powerline Productions for alerting us and of course thanks to Kelly, Ramon and the Tour for using our service. Here's the links:
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/travel/kelly-slaters-wave-finding-tips.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRSIkqpCqjU&feature=g-all-u
Steve Colleta Surfboards - Check out surfboards by local shaper Steve Coletta - A long time Santa Cruz local and master shaper. Progressive shapes for North and Central CA waves http://www.naturalcurvesboards.com
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
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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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
