Good News for the Surf Deprived: Waves Are on the Way!
One of the Weakest Summers in Memory Could be Improving
I don't think that any of us can recall a year when such a weak and awful Winter was followed up by a Summer such as the one which we are in the midst of right now. The South Pacific region has been dead quiet. The only reprieve has been a little NW windswell here and there. Today it looks like we have NW windswell that will be building throughout the week. South Pacific disturbances producing some larger SSE and SW swell are expected later this month. Even more impressive is the storm that is bearing down on Hawaii (Hurricane Flossie) - the first such storm to hit the state in 15 years. The last hurricane to hit the State of Hawaii - "Iniki" - ravaged the island of Kauai, killing six people and causing $2.5 billion in damage...
Zaca Fire Continues to Threaten Local Communities
With little or nothing to talk about surf-wise these days (mired in the dog days of Summer), there is one thing going on locally that is on everybody's mind, the 100,000 acre plus Zaca Fire that has been burning since the beginning of July. One of the largest fires to ever hit the County of Santa Barbara, the Zaca Fire continues to rage in the backcountry, threatening the Santa Ynez Recreation Area, and the community that runs along Paradise Rd. The large plume of smoke from this blaze resembles the one from Hiroshima at times. The fire is showing no signs of letting up, and things could get even uglier as high temperatures close to 100 degrees, and "Sundowner" winds are forecast for later today...
A Fish-Eye View of Rincon Point
I don't think that any of us can recall a year when such a weak and awful Winter was followed up by a Summer such as the one which we are in the midst of right now. The South Pacific region has been dead quiet. The only reprieve has been a little NW windswell here and there. Today it looks like we have NW windswell that will be building throughout the week. South Pacific disturbances producing some larger SSE and SW swell are expected later this month. Even more impressive is the storm that is bearing down on Hawaii (Hurricane Flossie) - the first such storm to hit the state in 15 years. The last hurricane to hit the State of Hawaii - "Iniki" - ravaged the island of Kauai, killing six people and causing $2.5 billion in damage...
Zaca Fire Continues to Threaten Local Communities
With little or nothing to talk about surf-wise these days (mired in the dog days of Summer), there is one thing going on locally that is on everybody's mind, the 100,000 acre plus Zaca Fire that has been burning since the beginning of July. One of the largest fires to ever hit the County of Santa Barbara, the Zaca Fire continues to rage in the backcountry, threatening the Santa Ynez Recreation Area, and the community that runs along Paradise Rd. The large plume of smoke from this blaze resembles the one from Hiroshima at times. The fire is showing no signs of letting up, and things could get even uglier as high temperatures close to 100 degrees, and "Sundowner" winds are forecast for later today...
A Fish-Eye View of Rincon Point
Hopefully there will be some opportunities to snap some images of local surfing in the coming days.
Let's all pray for surf...
Hi Jon,
where do I find info on this storm towards Hawaii?
What is YOUR prefered surf report?
Looking forward to surfing windswell this Wed. with my son.
Hi Jed,
There is lots of information about Flossie out there on the Internet, particularly the news sites (MSN, Yahoo, ...etc.). In my opinion, NOAA is THE place for weather info, and in the case the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center Web Page: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_ep4+shtml/204039.shtml?hwind120.
As far as my forecasting resources go, I'm an information sponge, and I utilize all of the tools that I can to formulate my hypotheses. My personal favorites are located in the "links" section of the blog, in the left hand sidebar.
Good luck surfing tomorrow. Let us know what you find.
Thanks for writing!
--Jon