Tropical Storm Elida

Tropical Storm Elida formed just off the southern coasts of Mainland Mexico early on Saturday.

Elida jumped from a tropical disturbance to Tropical Storm strength in less than 12 hours and current NHC forecasts are showing that she may reach hurricane wind speeds by early next week (probably late on Monday). Currently Elida is tracking WNW at about 18 knots and has just started to move into the Tip of Baja’s swell window. Forecasts are calling for a slight shift to a more WNW’erly angle over the next day or so (300-degree track instead of a 290-295 degree one), which will be better for swell production for Baja.

Unfortunately it looks like Elida is going to hit cooler water and start and more westerly storm track before it gets to the Southern California swell window. The fact that it be losing intensity, taking a more oblique track, and is still forecast to be moving at nearly 15-18 knots is really going to hamper its ability to send swell our direction.

Check out the latest forecast track from NHC



When you get down to brass tacks from a surf perspective Cabo and the East Cape down in Baja will get some swell from Elida…likely it will be in the overhead range, (and maybe bigger) if the storm can intensify and slow down its movement westward. I would expect swell to begin showing on Monday (July 14th) strengthening through the day and then peaking on Tuesday and maybe into Wednesday before dropping off. I am not sure if it is really worth a trip down there unless you have some disposable income to burn, since it is still a roll-of-the-dice that the storm will get stronger and have a chance to generate much of a swell.

For SoCal, at this point, I am not expecting much from Elida. We may see some background SE energy from her if she can hang on long enough to make it to our swell window. Likely anything she produces will get lost in building swell that we have arriving from the Southern Hemisphere later next week.

If something changes for SoCal I will definitely let you guys know.

Friday's Surf in Baja Sur - Where big-ass fireworks are legal

Friday will be a surf day...again it looks like the Tip and the East Cape will be the best thanks to some swell from Tropical Depression Douglas (downgraded from a Tropical Storm Thursday night).

We will have a mix of SW swell, tropical S swell, and some local windswell.

Average spots throughout Baja Sur will be in the waist-chest high+ range...with a few bigger waves at the standout combo spots.

Cabo and the East Cape will be the biggest with the tropical swell...most spots there will hold in the chest-shoulder high+ range while the standout S facing spots see some head high+ sets through the early morning and then dropping fast by the afternoon.

If you are from the US, either an ex-pat or on Vacation have a great holiday...everyone else, you guys have a great time too! Try not to blow yourselves up.

Thursday's Surf in Baja Sur - Is that TS Douglas I smell?

Thursday looks like a surf day for most of Baja Sur but it looks particularly good for the Tip and the East Cape as TS Douglas strengthens and slowly tracks toward Baja Sur (before veering off to the NW before it gets very close to land.)

We will have a mix of SW energy from the Southern Hemisphere, local WNW windswell, and slowly increasing tropical S swell from TS Douglas (and fading energy from Boris).

Most exposed spots will see waist-shoulder high surf. Standout S facing spots along the Tip will have consistent shoulder-head high surf by the afternoon...maybe even a touch bigger at the standout spots. Expect lots of consistency at the breaks that can pick up the tropical swell...the lesser exposed areas will have longer waits for waves.

If possible I would plan on staying around the Tip and the East Cape if you can. Douglas is not forecast to strengthen past Tropical Storm strength but there is always a chance that he could become more intense which would put bigger surf into the exposed breaks.

If you are not down there and are sort of on the fence about pulling the trigger to get a flight...I think that this swell/storm is still sort of a roll of the dice. It will be fun but not really worth spending a ton of money trying to chase it around.

Tropical Storm Douglas - setting up some waves for the Tip of Baja

Well we went from almost from 0-to-60 in the tropics over the last few days. We have had 3 named storms develop since June 27th and now the National Hurricane Center is forecasting another named system to develop in the next day or so.

Currently one of the three named storms is the former TD-4E which strengthened into Tropical Storm Douglas earlier this morning.

Check out the latest forecast run for TS Douglas



Waves for SoCal (yeah not so much)
As you can see from the red line TS Douglas is still out of the Southern California swell window but he is inching closer as he tracks to the NW at 8 knots. At this pace it looks like the surf-generating parts of the storm (the NE and SE) won't actually move into the swell window until some time later on Friday...unfortunately it doesn't look like Douglas is going to get much stronger so I don't think he will be much of a wave maker for SoCal...some small waves...but nothing to get real fired up about. If anything shows it won't be until we move into the weekend...likely later on Saturday and into Sunday.

Waves for Baja Sur
Baja Sur, in particular the Tip, is looking much better in terms of getting surf from TS Douglas. He is positioned only a few hundred miles from Cabo and while he doesn't have great overall wind speeds he is well-positioned and moving the right direction which really help generate swell. At this point it looks like the expose areas around the Tip and the East Cape will start to see new tropical S swell move in on Thursday afternoon and then peak into Friday. I expect wave heights to hold in the shoulder-head high range at the better exposed S facing breaks. Remember those sizes are at the Tip...wave height and set consistency will drop off the further north you move up the Pacific Side.

Waves for NorCal
We have a tropical region?

Thursday’s Surf in Baja Sur – waiting for more swell

Thursday will be a surf day but it will be on the small side…really it will be a better day to get into position for the next SW swell which arrives on Friday and holds into the weekend.

On Thursday most spots will see a mix of SW swell and local windswell. Average breaks will be in the waist-chest high+ range while the standout SW spots and the great combo spots see some shoulder-head high waves on inconsistent sets.

The biggest waves will be on the Pacific Side…Cabo and the East Cape will be pretty small.

I actually think the beach breaks will be a bit more consistent, and a little more rideable than most other breaks on Thursday…just due mostly to the swell inconsistency and smaller size…the windswell could help cross up the beach breaks a bit better and fill in the gaps of the swell.

Again I wouldn’t drive very far to get waves on Thursday…but I would use the day to get to a better SW spot so I could get the better swell that hits over the weekend.

Wednesday's Surf in Baja Sur - A new little bump of SW swell

Wednesday will be a surf day but overall it will be on the small side, particularly when you compare it to the last couple of weeks.

We will have a mix of a new, peaking, SW pulse (210-220), SW leftovers, and some local NW windswell.

Pacific Side spots will be the biggest with the average breaks holding around waist-chest high and the top spots hitting closer to shoulder high. There may be a few bigger sets on the tide push but expect them to be on the inconsistent side.

Cabo and the East Cape will be smaller with mostly knee-waist high waves at the average spots and some rare chest high waves at the standouts (with the good tides).

I wouldn't plan on driving very far for surf on Wednesday...if you happen to find a sort-of fun/playful section I would set up camp and surf it until you can't ride it anymore...it won't be worth driving further for a similar sized wave.

Vacation and Long-Range Forecast

Hey gang I just wanted to give you a heads up...one of my best friends is being deployed to Iraq (he flies a Blackhawk for the Army), so I am finally going to take a couple of days off to hang out (and throw a party naturally) with him before he ships out.

So I am posting a long-range surf forecast for Baja Sur the next few days...If my liver is still working at the end of this weekend I should be back and have an update for Monday's forecast. See you then!

Here is the forecast...there are not a lot of changes over the next few days...just plenty of SW swell (and local windswell)

Thursday through Sunday will be a good time to be down in Baja Sur. A new SW swell (195-215) moved in on Wednesday and will be holding size into Thursday. This will be followed by a new SW'er that comes up early on Friday and holds into Saturday morning before slowly fading out through the end of the weekend.

Through this run of SW energy the better SW exposed breaks on the Pacific Side will be in the chest-head high range while the standout spots see consistent head high and overhead sets through early Saturday...eventually backing down to about chest-shoulder high by Sunday.

Cabo San Lucas/East Cape breaks will be smaller with waves holding in the waist-chest high range Thursday through Saturday at the average spots. Standouts will have some bigger head high sets sneaking through at times (some of the really exposed breaks may be a touch larger as well). Sunday most spots will back down to about waist-chest on the bigger sets.

Winds look pretty standard for the next several days with NW flow around 10-15+ knots for most exposed breaks along the Pacific Side and variable onshore flow through Cabo and the East Cape (cleanest in the mornings). Afternoon NW winds will top out around 15-20 knots for most areas.

Anyway hope this gets you through the next few days...have a great weekend! (Ha I am on Vacation!)