The forecast is looking pretty fun this week, with plenty of WNW and better conditions

Forecast Overview

Conditions should be improved this week, which will be nice since we’re expecting more moderate to plus sized WNW swell, and possibly some NW windswell mid week. High pressure sticks around through the work week, but another storm system is expected this weekend, which could be a bit lame. More long-period WNW is expected for next week

Oh yeah and sign up for the email list…http://surf.solspot.com/forecast-emails, and feel free to leave any other questions you might have (leave a comment or email me). Alright, now back to what we are here for… the forecast…

Short Range (next 4 days)

Tuesday the 21st– (Light winds in the morning and still some fun leftover swell)

San Francisco	Monterey	Central Coast

Tuesday should be another surfable day as conditions continue to look pretty promising with high pressure building. The mix of moderate mid-period W-WNW (260-280) swell and NW windswell leftovers should still mean surf in the range of waist high to overhead with stand out sets up to a couple feet overhead. The best part is winds are looking like they could be quite a bit lighter. Maybe even calm in the morning helping to clean things up and make for a pretty fun day of surf. Winds/Weather: For the most part it looks like a pretty nice day, with some sunshine starting to poke through, maybe a few clouds, and fog in the morning, but things are going to clear up and start to warm up as high pressure builds. Winds are looking fairly light and out of the N-NE in the morning. There could be a light sea breeze picking up through the afternoon, but for the most part a pretty easy going day.

Wednesday the 22nd– (A nice day with building swell)

San Francisco	Monterey	Central Coast

Wednesday should continue to see moderate size surf with fairly good morning conditions as another pulse of W-WNW (285-305) builds through the day. Size will build through the day, with stand out spots seeing shoulder to overhead+ surf maybe some sets in the range of several feet overhead. Onshore winds could pick up through the afternoon again, but they are still looking fairly light to moderate. Winds/Weather: Another nice day as the sun shines and warms things up a bit. Winds should remain calm to light, with maybe a little onshore push in the afternoon

Thursday the 23rd– (Another playful day with plenty of swell)

San Francisco	Monterey	Central Coast

Thursday looks like it could be a bigger day of moderate to plus sized WNW and a bit of windswell should start to peak. The WNW (285-305) should have periods around 13-seconds and size is expected to hold around overhead to DOH+ at stand outs. High pressure should mean playful conditions for most places, especially in the morning when the winds could be calm and maybe even a little offshore. Winds/Weather: Another nice day as the sun shines and warms things up a bit. Winds should remain calm to light, with maybe a little onshore push in the afternoon

Friday the 24th– (another fun day of plus sized surf)

San Francisco	Monterey	Central Coast

Friday looks very similar to Thursday as mid-period WNW swell continues to hold some decent size mixing with NW windswell. The playful surf should be in the range of overhead high to several feet overhead with stand out sets up to double overhead. Winds are looking calm in the morning again helping to keep it fun out there. Winds/Weather: For the most part it looks like a pretty nice day, with mostly sunny skies and light winds.

Long-Range Forecast

The first part of the week is looking a little on the small to moderate size to start off the forecast…

But starting Wednesday we’re looking at a series of new swells, bringing moderate to large surf for the second half of the week… and weekend

The good news is that high pressure should be building through the week, bringing some nice weather and lighter winds for Wednesday through Friday.  The bad news is that the ridge is expected to break down and a new storm system could drop down the coast on Saturday, making for a pretty miserable weekend as far as surf goes.  I’ll have more about this guy in Thursday’s forecast though…

the mid-range models are perking up a little bit and have another system moving off the Kurile Islands, that could develop a decent fetch in our swell window.

The moderate sized 18+-second WNW (285-295) swell could arrive next Monday adding some new long-period energy to leftover shorter and mid-period combo leftover from the storminess that could accompany this weekend.  Things start to look a little dull after that…

its still too early to tell, but it looks like high pressure building up into British Colombia could be a bit of a problem and could start channeling fetches away from us next week.  Hopefully those little orange dots over in the West Pacific can find a little momentum and kick up another good long-period swell for the beginning of March.

Stay tuned for the next forecast and happy hunting…

The next long-range forecast will be posted on Thursday, February 23rd, 2012.

Austin Gendron

Surf Forecaster

http://www.solspot.com/