Hello Friends,

Flying day for yours truly. At around 3pm Sydney time my Delta 777 flight will be climbing away from LA as it heads for Oz. Tomorrow morning I’ll be back in the land of warm water, and I hope, a wave or two to clear the jet-lagged brain.

It looks as though the punchy south swell of this morning will have faded quite a bit by tomorrow, but with luck there should still be surfable options around the place. As I typed this out at a little after 0500 Sydney time, the wind reports were showing westerly. But the forecast is for another bout of stiff SW in the morning which should then decrease as the day goes along. From the shape of the forecasts, it looks as though the swell will be overhead early but by dark be into the head to chest high range on sets at the exposed spots. Saturday could be waist to chest with the odd head high bomb.

One last set of piccies for ya from southern California. I took these yesterday when Roberto, pal Guy and I wandered around looking for something to ride mals on. There were some tiny SW sets around the place as we travelled south of Rincon toward Ventura. We ended up splashing around at a popular longboarding spot (sort of a Collaroy set up) called Mondos. Mondos is just down from Pitas point which can be quite a good wave during winter time. Anyway, it was extremely small and very slow, but we all got a few. Water was cold of course, but modern wetsuits made all the difference. In true California style when we got out of the water we headed off to a mexican restaurant for the usual post surfing fare and beers. Perfecto!

Catchya maybe later on Saturday!

 

 

 

Weather Situation

A high pressure system centred over Bass Strait extends a broad ridge over New South Wales while a low develops over the Tasman Sea. Fresh southerly airstream along the coast will ease on Friday as a ridge weakens. Winds will briefly turn westerly from late Saturday ahead of a trough expected on Sunday and Monday. Fresh to strong south to southwest airstream is likely to redevelop early next week in a wake of the trough with a possible low deepening just off New South Wales coast.

Forecast for Friday until midnight

Winds: South to southwesterly 20 to 25 knots decreasing to 15 to 20 knots around midday. Seas: 1.5 to 2 metres. Swell: Southerly 2 to 3 metres. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Forecast for Saturday

Winds: South to southwesterly 15 to 20 knots decreasing to 10 to 15 knots around dawn then tending west to southwesterly up to 10 knots around midday. Winds tending west to northwesterly up to 10 knots later in the evening. Seas: Up to 1.5 metres decreasing to below 1 metre by early evening. Swell: Southerly about 2 metres.

Forecast for Sunday

Winds: West to northwesterly 5 to 15 knots becoming westerly 15 to 20 knots during the morning then tending west to southwesterly 10 to 15 knots during the afternoon. Seas: Below 1 metre increasing up to 1.5 metres during the morning. Swell: Southeasterly 1.5 metres.

Hello Friends,

Surf prospects this morning look promising for Sydneysiders. The MHL buoy is still down but the Bureau is calling for solid east swell and light winds early. The models are showing it hitting maximum around the middle of the day (when the tide will be low), but it looks as though the pulse should carry on through tomorrow too. Huey may have another round of energy for Thursday too, although the models are somewhat contradictory. The forecast says on again off again showers all week so it would appear that la nina hasn’t relaxed its grip just yet.

Here’s a snap of the swell from the top of Flight Deck in south Narrabeen (WRL cam) at 0600.

 

Sadly your correspondent’s chances of getting wet again before heading back home are not too fabulous. All the models for this end of the southern California bight are looking pretty bleak. Bah. Weather’s nice though.

Go well with your day!

Weather Situation in Sydney

A deepening trough over the northern Tasman Sea and a high pressure ridge in the south combine to direct south to southeast airstream for most of New South Wales coast. As the trough further deepens and a ridge weakens, winds will strengthen along the North Coast today. Winds are expected to tend south to southwesterly throughout from Monday onwards with a weak trough from the west followed by a broad ridge building over the state by mid-week.

Forecast for Monday until midnight

Winds: South to southwesterly 10 to 15 knots. Seas: Below 1 metre. Swell: Easterly 3 metres. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Forecast for Tuesday

Winds: South to southwesterly 5 to 15 knots increasing to 15 to 20 knots by early evening then becoming southwesterly 15 to 25 knots later in the evening. Seas: Below 1 metre increasing to 1 to 1.5 metres by early evening then increasing to 1.5 to 2 metres later in the evening. Swell: Easterly 3 metres decreasing to 2 metres in the afternoon and evening. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Forecast for Wednesday

Winds: South to southwesterly 15 to 20 knots. Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres increasing to 2 metres during the morning. Swell: Southeasterly 2 metres decreasing to 1.5 metres from midday.

Hello Friends,

MHL buoy for Sydney is off the air, but looking at the other data, I’d be guessing it’s around a couple metres from the east at about 9 seconds. Combine that with the WSW winds showing on the automatic weather station data, and I’d say there’d have to be something in the way of a wave. And, from the shape of the models you’re looking at another three days of this before it starts calming down and dropping back to micro just in time for my return – gnash, gnash. Aside from the on again off again showers, it looks from this side of the planet as though there could be some fun early in the new week particularly.

Meanwhile, I can once again report that spring ordinariness is dominating the Santa Barbara region. I took brother-in-law Bob down to Leadbetter point to catch a few cold tiny waves. Gotta say my nice new wetty was a wise investment because the only cold I experienced was my hands. And the water is a vicco 12 or so. Waves were weak, short period windswell in the ankle to knee high range. Folks on SUPs were having all the fun, but your correspondent managed to jag the set of the day (a massive waist high). Hey, at least I got wet! And that’s never a bad thing is it?

Go well one and all and get lots of waves.

Today’s postcard is a snap of Roberto himself waiting for something, anything to come his way…

Weather Situation

A deepening trough over the northern Tasman Sea and a high pressure ridge in the south combine to direct south to southeast airstream for most of New South Wales coast. As the trough further deepens and a ridge weakens, winds will strengthen along the North Coast on Sunday. Winds are expected to tend south to southwesterly throughout from Monday onwards with a weak trough from the west followed by a broad ridge building over the state by mid-week.

Forecast for Sunday until midnight

Winds: Southerly 10 to 15 knots. Seas: Below 1 metre. Swell: Easterly 2 to 3 metres. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Forecast for Monday

Winds: South to southwesterly 15 to 20 knots becoming southerly 10 to 15 knots later in the evening. Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres. Swell: Easterly 3 metres. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Forecast for Tuesday

Winds: South to southwesterly 5 to 15 knots becoming southwesterly up to 30 knots during the evening. Seas: Below 1 metre increasing to 1 to 2 metres during the evening. Swell: Easterly 2 to 3 metres. The chance of thunderstorms. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Hello Friends,

Hmmm… ESE 2m @ 10sec and light WSW winds at 0630 in Sydney… that’s not a bad combo on paper. But a look at the radar tells another story; a steady supply of showers is streaming in from the SE, so those winds down at the surface aren’t likely to blow in the current favourable direction for much longer. The Goat will be along on 702 ABC radio at around 0725, so I’ll be tuning in then to find out what the absolute latest word is. Given the metrics though, I’m not overly hopeful.

Here in Santa Barbara, Huey continues to treat surfers with disregard. When I checked the surf situation this morning, the water was around the 10-degree mark and the waves were still too small for surfin’. We had strong winds yesterday, so that’s why it’s even colder in the ocean. It did make for a clear day though and I got out of the house and went for a little drive north from here to an area called Gaviota. In fact, I drove a short distance up the road that leads into the fabled Hollister Ranch. Here’s a snap of the friendly sign posted about a km from the gate…

After taking this snap, I turned around to look back down the coast toward Santa Barbara (about 40 km away). See that lift toward the end of the pier in the foreground of the picture? That’s what you use to lower your boat when you’re making a Ranch run. On a good swell there will be boats lining up to use the lift, but on this day as you can see from the utter lack of activity on the beach, there was absolutely nothin’!

Enjoy your Saturday!

Weather Situation in Sydney

A strong high pressure system over the southeastern Tasman Sea extends a ridge to northwestern New South Wales and a low pressure system is developing over the Coral Sea. During Saturday and Sunday the low will move south across the eastern Tasman Sea as the high moves to the southeast.

Forecast for Saturday until midnight

Winds: Southeasterly 15 to 20 knots. Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres. Swell: Easterly 2 to 3 metres. The chance of thunderstorms from the late morning until evening, mainly offshore. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Forecast for Sunday

Winds: South to southeasterly 15 to 20 knots. Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres increasing to 1.5 to 2 metres by early evening. Swell: Easterly 2 to 3 metres. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Forecast for Monday

Winds: South to southwesterly 15 to 20 knots decreasing to 10 to 15 knots during the evening. Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres. Swell: Easterly 3 metres. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Weather Situation in Sydney

A strong high pressure system over the southwestern Tasman Sea extends a ridge to New South Wales north coast and a low pressure system is developing over the Coral Sea. During Saturday and Sunday the low will move over the central Tasman Sea as the high moves towards New Zealand maintaining the ridge to the south 

Forecast for Friday until midnight

Winds: Southeasterly 10 to 15 knots increasing to 15 to 20 knots during the afternoon. Seas: 1 to 2 metres. Swell: Southeasterly 2 metres. The chance of thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Forecast for Saturday

Winds: Southeasterly 10 to 20 knots. Seas: Up to 1.5 metres. Swell: Easterly 2 metres. The chance of thunderstorms. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Forecast for Sunday

Winds: South to southeasterly 15 to 20 knots. Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres increasing to 1.5 to 2 metres during the evening. Swell: Easterly 2 to 3 metres. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Weather Situation in Sydney

A strong high pressure system over the southwestern Tasman Sea extends a ridge to New South Wales north coast and a low pressure system is deepening over the Coral Sea. During Saturday and Sunday the low will move over the central Tasman Sea as the high moves towards New Zealand maintaining the ridge to the south and central coasts.

Forecast for Thursday until midnight

Winds: Southeasterly 15 to 20 knots. Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres. Swell: Southeasterly 2 to 3 metres. Swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Forecast for Friday

Winds: Southeasterly 10 to 15 knots. Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres. Swell: Southeasterly 2 metres. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Forecast for Saturday

Winds: East to southeasterly 15 to 20 knots becoming southeasterly 10 to 15 knots during the evening. Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres. Swell: Easterly 2 metres. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.