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Pacific Storm and Surf Forecast
Updated: October 29, 2009 9:45 PM
Buoys: Northern CA - Southern CA - Hawaii - Gulf of Alaska - Pacific Northwest
Buoy Forecast:
Northern CA - Southern CA - Hawaii - Gulf of Alaska - Pacific Northwest
Pacific Links:  Atmospheric Models - Buoy Data - Current Weather - Wave Models
Forecast Archives: Enter Here
A chronology of recent Mavericks Underground forecasts. Once you enter, just click on the HTML file forecast you want to review (e.g. 073199.html equals July 31, 1999). To view the maps that correspond to that forecast date, select the html file labeled 073199 maps.html
Swell Potential Rating = 1.9 - California & 2.9 - Hawaii
Using the 'Winter' Scale
(See Swell Category Table link at bottom of page)
Probability for presence of largest swells in near-shore waters of NCal, SCal or Hawaii.    
Issued for Week of Monday 10/26 thru Sun 11/1
Swell Potential Rating Categories
5 = Good probability for 3 or more days of Significant swell
4 = Good probability for 1-2 days of Significant swell
3 = Good probability for 3 or more days of Intermediate/Advanced swell
2 = Good probability for  1-2 days of
Intermediate/Advanced swell
1 = Good probability for 3 or more days of Impulse or Windswell
0 = Low probability for 1-2 days of Impulse or Windswell   

ET Lupit Swell Pushing East
Hawaii Up First/CA on Deck

 

New Swell Classification Guidelines (Winter)

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: 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
On Thursday (10/27) North and Central California was starting to get a taste or normality with dying north winds and fading northerly windswell at head high and no wind, but still pretty hacked up conditions. Southern California was getting the same local windswell with waves waist to chest high up north and waist high down south and windblown from the north in all instances. Hawaii's North Shore was getting a nice dose of north swell coming from the gale that was over the dateline a few days before with waves 3-4 ft overhead.  Reasonably light winds with glassy conditions early. The East Shore had waist high locally generated east windswell and chopped. The South Shore continued to have a few thigh to waist high sets originating from the southern hemi and clean.  

The forecast for North and Central CA is for waist high leftover north windswell on Friday with improving conditions, and maybe not even than much on Saturday. Generic northwest swell arrives on Sunday from a low off Washington pushing surf 1-2 ft overhead with swell from ET Lupit building underneath, possibly to double overhead later in the day and continuing on into Monday and Tuesday of next week, though slowly fading. Southern California is to see the same locally generated northwest windswell fading from thigh high Friday and gone by Saturday. Maybe some of the north Gulf swell is to arrive late Sunday up north at waist high  with ET Lupit building in at the same time, perhaps providing something nice on Monday and Tuesday in the head high range. The North Shore of Hawaii is to see more northerly swell from just over the dateline Friday at 2-3 ft overhead then slowly dropping through the weekend. But ET Lupit swell is expected late on Saturday at  4 ft overhead pushing 10-12 ft on the faces on Sunday then settling down from there. The East Shore is to continue with easterly windswell at waist high into Friday, then settling down from there. The South Shore is to remain near flat through the weekend with no hope till late next week.

Longterm the Active Phase of the MJO continues continues to be doing great things for El Nino, though nothing is forecast to manifest directly from that over the next week in terms of gale production. High pressure is to take over the dateline region early next week not helping the North Pacific Storm Corridor. A weak gale is to drop south towards Hawaii mid-week  generating 21-23 ft seas, possibly setting something up late week. And some form of generic gale activity is forecast tracking into he northern Gulf mid-week, possibly setting up rideable surf for the US West Coast next weekend. But in all, nothing of any real notice is forecast. Down south a weak gale pushed under New Zealand Wed/Thurs (10/29) producing 28 ft seas aimed aimed northeast, good for background swell for Hawaii later next week. In all, a pretty modest storm pattern is in.cgiay.  

 

SHORT- TERM FORECAST
Current marine weather and wave analysis.cgius forecast conditions for the next 72 hours

North Pacific

Overview
On Thursday (10/29) the North Pacific jetstream was pretty diffused coming off Siberia offering no defined cortex.  It pushed to a point north of Hawaii in what was a steep pinched trough, and then ridged hard north pushing into British Columbia. No support for gale development was indicated. Over the next 72 hrs the jet over the West Pacific is to get consolidated again with near 180 kts winds starting to organize but ridging northeast off Japan towards the intersection of the dateline and the Aleutians, not offering any support for surface level gale development. A weak trough is forecast to try and start forming off the Pacific Northwest Sunday, but to no avail just yet.  Beyond 72 hours a huge ridge is to build over the dateline with 200 kt winds pushing up into that ridge, only supporting high pressure down at the surface on the dateline. A bit of another steep pinched trough is forecast forming north of Hawaii Mon-Tues (11/3) but quickly getting pinched off with all the energy in the West Pacific racing east and smashing into British Columbia, having no ability to influence surface level gale development. The net results is to be a generally quite pattern, even though there is to be much movement aloft.  Almost kind of frenetic. . 

At the surface on Thursday (10/29) high pressure at 1028 mbs was centered 600 nmiles west of Central CA ridging into the Pacific Northwest and generating a mild pressure gradient down the Central CA coast producing 20 kt north winds there. Weak low pressure was pushing into Northern Canada. The remnants of ET Lupit were fading over the far Western Aleutian Islands with high pressure pushing east from off Japan. No swell production was evident. Swell from Lupit was tracking east through, bound for Hawaii and California. Over the next 72 hours a new gale is to try and develop off Washington on Friday (10/30) producing a decent fetch of 30 kt northwest to west winds resulting in 20 ft seas pushing into the coast for Saturday and down to Central CA by Sunday (11/1). Limited swell to result in the 12-13 sec range but pretty raw in the Pacific Northwest.  Otherwise a large area of high pressure at 1036 mbs is to set up on the dateline at 37N pretty much choking off the North Pacific Storm Corridor with a calm weather pattern east of there. 

Dateline Gale
On Monday (10/26) a gale started building on the dateline with 35-40 kt north winds over a tiny area at 40N 180W building to 40 kts over a small area and sinking south fast in the evening at 37N 180W. 25 ft seas were modeled at 38N 178W aimed due south, mostly bypassing the Hawaiian Islands, at least initially. The fetch faded a little Tuesday AM with 35 kt north winds confirmed at 35N 175W and aimed mostly due south and 25 ft seas modeled at 35N 177W. By Tuesday evening residual 30-35 kt north winds are to continue at 34N 173W with 23 ft seas modeled at 30N 175W pushing  pretty well west of the Hawaiian Islands. 30 kt north winds are to be fading fast at at 32N 170W Wednesday AM with 20 ft seas pushing south, southeast a bit better towards the Western Hawaiian Islands.

Fun sized north sideband swell is expected to continue in Hawaii on Friday (10/30) at 6.6 ft @ 11-12 secs (7.5 ft faces) from 315 degrees. 

ET Lupit 
On Monday evening (10/26) the extratropical remnants of Typhoon Lupit were tracking north-northeast off Japan with a tiny fetch of confirmed 60 kts west winds building in the storms south quadrant at 153E 40N aimed west. 

Tuesday AM (10/27) that fetch was building with confirmed winds at 60-70 kts at 43N 156E. 36 ft seas were modeled at 42N 154E. This system built some more in the evening with 60 kt winds confirmed in it's southwest quadrant at 45N 162E aimed well down the 310 degree paths to Hawaii and 20 degrees south of the 303 degree path to NCal. 45 ft seas were modeled  at 44N 160E.  The Jason-1 satellite passed directly over the core of the fetch but was obscured by rain.  But a 15 reading average sea height of  39.4 ft with a peak reading of 41.3 ft was reported over the outer areas, consistent with the wave models.   

This storm continued tracking northeast on Wednesday AM (10/28) with 50-55 kt west-northwest winds and a few barbs to 60 kts at 47N 165E aimed well down the 318 degree path to Hawaii and 20 degrees south of the 303 degree path to Central CA. A small area of 42 ft seas was modeled at 47N 166W. This seems a bit low. In the evening a quick fade occurred with 40-45 kt northwest winds confirmed in the storms southwest quadrant at 49N 170E aimed down the 326 degree path to Hawaii and 30 degrees south of the 306 degree path to Central CA.  38 ft seas modeled at 47-49N 172E pushing mostly due east. 

Thursday AM (10/29) this system was decaying fast with a tiny area of 40 kt northwest winds at 50N 173E aimed reasonably well down the 327 degree path to Hawaii and the 307 degree path to Central CA. 35 ft seas were modeled at 48N 172E. This system is to be gone in the evening with 29 ft seas from previous fetch fading at 48N 177E. 

This system was a long ways away from either Hawaii (2109-2696 nmiles) or the US west coast (2858-3695 nmiles) and not large in areal coverage. Furthermore it was tracking northeast rather than east, not blowing for any length of time over the same stretch of water, not allowing a captured fetch (i.e. virtual fetch). The net result is less wind energy transfer to the oceans surface resulting in smaller seas over a smaller area. Furthermore, the fetch was aimed a bit south of the great circle tracks to the US West Coast, and instead favored the Hawaiian Islands. But it was a fairly intense system, with confirmed winds of 60 kts for nearly 48 hours and a few barbs to 70 kts. That is impressive.  But the end result is likely to be a smaller swell than what most would expect. Still well rideable surf is possible for the Hawaiian Islands for the weekend with decent but inconsistent size  for the US West Coast late in the weekend into the week beyond.

Hawaii: Expect swell arrival starting at sunset Friday (10/30) with period 22 secs and swell barely noticeable.  Swell creeping up through the evening and getting most solid between 10 PM and 3 AM Sat (10/31) as period turns to 20 secs. Size to start peaking just after sunrise Sat through noon with swell 6.0-6.9 ft @ 18-19 secs (10.8-13.1 ft faces) and basically holding through the afternoon as period moves to 17 secs (3 PM).  This size estimate might be a little biased on the low side. Swell to continue at sunrise Sunday (11/1) at with swell down to 6.0-6.5 ft @ 15-16 secs early (9-10 ft faces), holding through the day but trending more towards a pure 15 sec interval.  13-14 sec residuals expected Monday.  Swell Direction: 310-317 degrees initially moving towards 320 degrees later in it's life.

North CA:  Expect swell arrival starting Saturday at 4 PM with period 22 secs and size barely noticeable.  Swell pushing up slowly through the evening with period hitting 20 secs after midnight, and holding well at 6-7 AM Sunday (11/1) swell pushing 5.5-6.0 ft @ 19-20 secs (11-12 ft faces) but very inconsistent. Swell to continue through the day at 5.5-6.0 ft @ 18 secs by sunset (10-11 ft faces). This estimate might be a bit on the high side. Swell to continue overnight with period down to 16-17 secs sunrise Monday (11/2) with swell 5.5 ft @ 17 secs  (9.0-9.5 ft faces) and slowly settling down through the day as period drops to 16 secs. Swell continuing to fade on Tuesday (11/3) with swell 5.0 ft @ 15 secs (7.5 ft faces) and heading down. 13 sec leftovers expected on Wed (11/4).  Swell Direction: 302-303 degrees (shadowed for the SF Bay Area).    

 

North Pacific Animations: Jetstream - Surface Pressure/Wind - Sea Height - Surf Height

 

California Nearshore Forecast
On Thursday (10/29) high pressure at 1028 mbs was centered 600 nmiles west of Central CA ridging northeast into Oregon but fading, resulting in 15-20 kt north winds mostly off the coast from Pt Arena southward to Pt Conception and beyond the Channel Islands. By Friday a light to calm wind flow is expected to take hold as a weak gale develops off the Pacific Northwest pushing inland on Saturday.  A little more high pressure is to try and develop Sunday with 15 kt north winds off the coast, but reasonably calm nearshore early. These winds to become isolated off Norther CA on Monday and Tuesday.  Then Wednesday (11/4) more high pressure and north winds are forecast again for most of Central CA. 

 

Tropics
With the MJO in the Active Phase, net tropical activity is up:

Typhoon Mirinae was located just 125 nmiles east of Manila in the Philippines and was tracking effectively west at 17 kts with sustained winds 90 kts. This track is to continue with no strengthening forecast, making a direct hit on the Philippines on Friday AM (11/30 18Z). Mirinae is expected to make landfall then move west and into the South China Sea 24 hrs later, eventually moving into South Vietnam.  No swell production is expected for the greater Pacific from this system.    

 

South Pacific

Overview
At the surface on Thursday (10/29) no swell producing fetch was occurring. But a weak gale did pushing east under New Zealand Wed-Thurs (10/29) producing a modest sized fetch of 30-35 kt southwest winds aimed well to the northeast generating 27-28 ft sea sat 55S 175E Thurs AM. limited 14-15 sec period background swell is possibly for the Hawaiian Islands starting Thursday (10/5) with swell to 1.6 ft @ 16 secs (2.5-3.0 ft faces), continuing into Friday.  Swell Direction: 200 degrees.  

 

South Pacific Animations: Jetstream - Surface Pressure/Wind - Sea Height - Surf Height

 

QuikCAST's

 

LONG-TERM FORECAST
Marine weather and forecast conditions 3-10 days into the future

North Pacific

Beyond 72 hours another weak gale is forecast building north of Hawaii on Mon-Tues (11/3) with 30-35 kt north winds producing 23 ft seas sinking south towards the Islands, almost running over them on Wed (10/4).  Raw local swell possible there. Also there's some suggestion that another tropical fueled system might try and build off Kamchatka Tues (11/2) racing east driving into the Gulf of Alaska by a fast moving jetstream. Some limited an poorly organized gale might result in the Northern Gulf with 35-40 kts winds and 25-26 ft seas aimed mostly east on Thursday.   otherwise, that high pressure system is to be the dominant factor for a while. 


MJO/ENSO Update (reference): As of Thursday (10/29) the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) continued in the Active Phase, still fairly strong. The ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) index remaining negative with the Daily SOI index at -20.31, the 13th day in a row at that magnitude or higher attributable to low pressure under Tahiti and high pressure over Darwin Aus (21 days in a row solidly negative and 33 consecutive days nearly negative/not positive). The 30 day average was falling to -14.61 and the 90 average was down to -5.03.  Suspect this near the end of this run down though. This continues looking more like what would be considered real a El Nino. The SOI index has surpassed the depths it reached in June, the peak of this El Nino's SOI trend and nearly equaling the deepest readings since April of the 2006 El Nino event. This is good.

Wind anomalies at the 850 mb level (approx 5000 ft up) as defined by models indicated light westerly anomalies over the entire equatorial Pacific from just north of New Guinea  over the dateline and extending east into Central America, a littel stronger than day previous. Mild eastern anomalies associated with the Inactive Phase of the MJO continue covering the Northern Indian Ocean ans were starting to push east. The Active Phase is to continue in the Pacific tracking east through 11/7, with a dead neutral pattern setting up after that through 11/17. The Inactive phase is to make it to the Philippines on 11/2-11/12, then dissipate. The current configuration and strength suggest that the MJO signal does in-fact die during El Nino events. 

Sea Surface Temp anomaly data (10/29) indicates warm anomalies have built, extending the length of the equator from Ecuador to the dateline at 1 deg C higher than normal or more. This is a significant change from even a few days ago, with the much anticipated step up in temps occurring attributable to the kelvin Wave erupting along the Central America coast 2 weeks ago. This is suggestive of a moderate El Nino.  The expanse of the warmer waters continues to build north of the equator, solidifying it's grip up the coast of Mexico and Baja (though still retreated from Southern and Northern CA - the result of a local north wind and high pressure), and extending west almost to Hawaii then southwest to the dateline. Effectively there is a broad wide triangle of warmer than normal water extending from just south of San Diego southwest just under Hawaii and on to the intersection of the equator and the dateline and even west of there now, then tracking southeast on to Northern Peru.  This is not anything exceptional, but clearly a moderate El Nino. In reviewing surface water temp anomalies over the past decade and more, this is in no way similar to the monumental ENSO event of '97/98. But as previously stated, it still surpasses any event since then (over the last 12 years) in terms of water temps and areal coverage and is only building on that position. 

Below the surface on the equator things continue to look excellent. A steady flow of warmer than normal subsurface water continues tracking from the West Pacific (150 m below the surface) under the dateline and breaking the surface near Central America as it has for months now.  Surface water temperatures have jumped up off Central America as a result of the last Kelvin wave dispersed there, feeding the developing warm water pool and fueling El Nino. The latest imagery depicts the movement of warm waters to the west, and the expanse of those waters is increasing. So though the total temperature anomaly is not getting warmer off Central America, the expanse of those warm waters is increasing. A core of 2 deg warmer than normal water that first appeared under the dateline on 9/17 moved east to 175W by 9/22 and 172W on 9/24, then built to 3 degrees above normal (9/29) and continued growing as of 10/18 at 160W.  Data on 10/20 depicted intensification with temps pushing solidly 4 degrees C above normal. And as of 10/22 that anomaly looked to be broaching the 5 degree mark and was holding if not expanding on 10/25. This is good. On 10/26 it was confirmed at 5 degrees above normal and racing east, much faster than previous Kelvin Waves and located at 145W , and then 135W on 10/29. This wave is associated with a persistent westerly surface wind flow that had been in.cgiace west of the dateline from 9/8. It is expected to reach the coast of Ecuador possibly late November or earlier. So all looks good for maintaining the existing warm pool if not building it.  

On 10/1 a solid patch of westward winds were depicted in-control of the West Pacific with strong west anomalies extending to almost the dateline. This had been in.cgiay since 9/27 and was associated with tropical systems Parma and Melor. This was good news. A full on Westerly Wind Burst was in effect. As of 10/3 fully blowing west winds were subsiding, though westerly anomalies continued reaching to the dateline.  And by 10/6 just light west winds were in effect west of the dateline.  But then again on 10/7 another group of fully blowing west winds were depicted extending all the way to the dateline, with decent force too. Anomalies were in full effect to the dateline and beyond to the east. On 10/11 light west winds were still in effect to the dateline with solid anomalies over the dateline and to a point south of Hawaii. And by 10/13 a light west flow was in effect with full west anomalies still in.cgiace to the dateline and east to about Hawaii fading some into 10/20 but still light west winds were west of the dateline and anomalies east of there. Then on 1021 another batch of fully blowing west winds were in.cgiay with solid anomalies to 160W (south of Hawaii) and almost to 140W, making further eastward progress than anything so far this El Nino event. By 1024 that pattern continued if not intensified with fully blowing west winds to the dateline a solid anomalies to 140W and maybe even more. And on 10/26 the pattern continued, with anomalies pushing even further eastward to near 130W. And on 10/29 full blowing west winds and anomalies continued as documented above.  This puts anomalies over almost the entire equatorial Pacific.  Impressive. This all remains very good news and is associated with the current Active Phase of the MJO. The anomalous flow continues making more inroads towards the East Pacific. Again, this is classic El Nino symptoms. This is the first such event for this El Nino and if anything is on the upswing. For over a month now (since 9/8) a continuous moderate westerly anomaly has been in.cgiay from the west up to the dateline. These westerly anomalies started with Typhoon Dujuan and continued with Choi-Wan gently feeding the subsurface warm water flow. And then with Parma, Melor and Nepartak, that flow was enhanced.  At this time all these anomalies appear to be consolidating the resulting warm waters into one strong Kelvin Wave, the one currently pushing east from the dateline (see above). This one is expected to reinforce if not deepen the warm anomalies on the surface over the equator.  

At this time we are saying this developing El Nino is past the critical juncture and will survive in some fashion with effects continuing in the atmosphere until at least the Spring of next year. All data suggests this will not be a strong El Nino, more likely a weak to moderate one. NOAA's most recent update (10/8) forecasts the same outcome, though hints at a possible intensification (but not likely). A solid accumulation of warm water in the equatorial East Pacific is evidence in-favor of continued development. As long as there continues to be WWB's (as there obviously is), then warm water will be migrating east, and the warm water pattern will hold if not build, and the atmosphere above it will respond in-kind to the change (towards El Nino). At this point there is no evidence to suggest this El Nino will stall or dissipate. The only remaining question is whether it will hold, or grow. And current data indicates that the warm pool will hold if not slowly build. And historically it is already larger and strong than any other in the past 12 years. 

The next milestone we're monitoring is development of this Active Phase of the MJO occurring now (10/3). The models indicate it is moderate in strength and should hold for a few weeks. Also water temps need to hold if not build (as is happening now). Our thoughts are that El Nino might gain a little more strength, but not much, with a 2 degree water temp anomaly in the tropical East Pacific the likely outcome. Coverage is pretty solid for this event, but the lack of really high water temp anomalies will likely limit it's strength. Strong El Ninos bring lot's of bad weather to the US West Coast, along with the potential for storm and swell enhancement. A moderate El Nino provides storm and swell enhancement, a gentle but steady push/momentum in-favor of storm development rather than the manic frenzy of a strong El Nino, but without all the weather associated with a strong event. So in many ways a moderate El Nino is more favorable from a surf perspective. As of right now things remain better than anything the Pacific has seen in the past 12 years regarding anomalous sea surface temperatures, besting anything since the big El Nino of 1997. That is very good news.  But the lack of anomalous water temps exceeding 3 degrees and an unremarkable SOI suggests a modest El Nino at best. Still, it should be enough to provide storm enhancement, and a better than average winter surf season for the North Pacific, and still likely better than anything in the past 10 years. Better yet, if it's not too strong (as this event appears to be) perhaps it will not degrade into La Nina the year after (which typically happens after stronger El Ninos), but hold in some mild El Nino like state for several years in a row. This would be an even better outcome.    

See more details in the new  El Nino update.

 

South Pacific

Beyond 72 hours the models indicate maybe another weak gale pushing under New Zealand on Monday (11/2) generating 30-32 ft seas aimed a bit to the northeast.  Maybe some potential for Hawaii if all goes as.cgianned. Otherwise no swell producing fetch of interest is 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

Add a STORMSURF Buoy Forecast to your Google Homepage. Click Here: Add to Google
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MAVERICKSSURF MAVFILM MAVSURFER SURFPULSE Inside Mavericks Randy Cone Surfboards

Local Interest

Interview With Stormsurf:  The crew at SurfScience.com worked with Stormsurf on a feature about why surfers should be able to read wave charts themselves. They are firm believers that a little learning can go a long way to help your surfing.  This is a great article to help convince your friends that they can benefit from being able to read the data themsleves rather than just relying on the forecasts of others.  See the full thing here:  Create Your Own Surf Forecast with Stormsurf

Mavericks - Everest of the Sea & Longboard Vineyards: Come late October Sonoma County will not only welcome a new crop of world class wines, but the award winning photography of some of Action Sports best lensmen. “ Mavericks – Everest of the Seas” comes alive again just in time to set the stage for another epic Big Wave Season. Mix two of Northern California's finest institutions – big wave surfing and the wine country – and you have what promises to be an amazing weekend at the Longboard Vineyards Tasting Room in Healdsburg
October 23 – 25.

Relive heroic battles between man and wave as seen through the eyes of the cutting-edge photojournalists who risk life and limb to document the wave's intense man-against-the-sea drama and obsessive lifestyle of Maverick's elite riders. Oded Shakked, a longtime surfer who founded Longboard Vineyards, will be unveiling his latest release, The Peter Mel/Mavericks Cabernet Sauvignon. This signature wine will be blended by not only Shakked but guest vintner, Peter Mel. Mel, one of the most respected names in Big Wave Surfing is known as perhaps the most skillful surfer ever to ride Mavericks. The famed spot off the Half Moon Bay. In October of 1998 he was whipped into to what is now considered the biggest wave ever ridden… Mel along with the featured photographers, surfboard shapers and wine makers will be on hand for the Friday night reception. The reception will begin at 5pm and run until roughly 9pm.

Longboard Vineyard has always had a soft spot for surfers. It's a.cgiace where you can hangout at a redwood-surfboard bar, or sa.cgie one
of its award winning wines while kicking back on a comfortable sofa watching surf movies. For this harvest weekend event Shakked has
enlisted “Mavericks: Everest of the Seas,” the heralded collection of Mavericks surf photography from Frank Quirarte, Doug Acton, Seth
Migdail and Ed Grant.

“Everest of the Seas” first made its debut recently at the Coastal Arts League Gallery in Half Moon Bay, drawing large crowds and an
enthusiastic response. It just finished a one-month highly successful run at San Francisco's world class Museum and Gallery, SFMOMA.“Everyone who sees the exhibit is just blown away,” said Grant, the curator of the Coastal Arts League Gallery. “Both surfers and non-surfers can't help but get caught up in the energy and stoke that surrounds Maverick's, the surfers and photographers who put it on the
line every time they go out there.”

The event also represents a high point in the career of Oded Shakked, who was born in Israel and grew up near a beach just north of Tel
Aviv. Immersed in surfing from the start, he made several trips around Europe's Atlantic coast while discovering, to his delight, that “it
was easier, cheaper and safer to drink good red wine than bottled water.” His twin loves of surfing and wine brought him to California,
where he studied winemaking at UC Davis and became enamored with the pe.cgie, climate and rich soil of Sonoma County. He founded Longboard Vineyards with the motto “Wine, waves and soul,” making it a highly unique fixture in wine country.

The October 23-25 weekend will also feature the sale of surfboards and memorabilia, along with Acton's acclaimed book, “Inside Maverick's.”
Admission is free. Opening reception sponsored by Maverick Events and Longboard Vineyards

The Kelly Slater Project - A fundraiser is scheduled for Aug 29th at the Cocoa Beach Country Club to help raise funds for both the Kelly Slater Project and the Central Florida Animal Reserve. A Casino night is.cgianned including a silent auction and raffle. Sponsors are also needed. Learn more about these projects at : http://www.thekellyslaterproject.com/

Rebuild Jeff Clark: Jeff Clark the first pioneer of Mavericks, recently underwent hip resurfacing surgery due to severe pain from deterioration of his hip. Needless to say the procedure is very expensive and his insurance only covers tiny portion of the bill. If you're interested in learning about the procedure or would like to donate to help Jeff out,.cgiease take a look here: http://www.rebuildjeffclark.blogspot.com/

North California Surf Report Works Again: After an extended downtime we finally got the North California Surf Report working again. Thanks for your patience. See it here: http://www.stormsurf.com/page2/report/ncal.html

Shark Video: Our friend Curt Myers of Powerlines productions shot this footage of 2 great whites munching on a whale carcass off Devils Slide (south of San Francisco) on Thursday. Kind of interesting to watch. Check it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I4rZYEZMWQ (Fixed link)

Wave Model Upgrade Status Report: At this point we believe the installation of the new wave models is complete, with no problems being reported, the server stabilizing and the much requested return of the old style hemispheric Surf Height models now operational (again) and running side-by-side along the new ones. We thank you for your patience and input as we went though this process.  Your feedback helps guide our efforts and ultimately results in a better product for everyone.  Now we're off to start providing better menus to some wave model products most of you probably haven't uncovered yet (site specific graph and text forecasts), updateing the wave model FAQs and then upgrading the Weather Models.  

New Wave Model Facts: Click HERE to read more about the new wave models. Important info.

Stormsurf Wave Models Updated: On Friday (2/6) we installed the latest upgrade to our wavemodels. A year in the works, this upgrade essentially is a total re-write of every wave model product we produce. They now take advantage of the new Version 3 of the Wavewatch wavemodel. This version runs at a much higher resolution, specifically 0.0 X 0.5 degrees for the global grib with local products at 0.1667 X 0.1667 degrees, and it uses the hi-res GFS model for wind speeds. And of even more interest, the model now identifies primary swell and windwave variables. As such we now have new model images which displays this data. Also we've included out special 3D topographic land masks into all models. In all it makes for a radical step forward in wave model technology. We'll be upgrading minor components (FAQ, new menu pages etc) for a few weeks to come, but all the basics are available for your use now. Check it out here: http://www.stormsurf.com/mdls/menu_wam.html

Story About Stormsurf: The folks at SurfPulse (and specifically author Mike Wallace) have written up a really nice article about Stormsurf, complete with some good pics. Learn about how we came to be and a little of where we are going. Check it out here: http://www.surfpulse.com/2009/01/visceral-surf-forecasting-with-mark-sponsler/

Stormsurf Video: Just for fun - here's a clip about Stormsurf that ran on Bay Area TV a while back. Thought you might enjoy it: http://vimeo.com/2319455

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.

Need Chiropractic Help? Visit our friends at Darrow Chiropractic. Not only will Dr. Darrow fix you up, he might give you some big wave surfing tips too! See more here: http://www.darrowchiropractic.com/

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!
http://www.google.com/ig/add?moduleurl=http://www.stormsurf.com/gadget/stormsurf .xml

Free Stormsurf Stickers - Get your free stickers! - More details Here

Read all the latest news and happenings on our News Page here

Surf Height-Swell Height Correlation Table

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