Santa Barbara

• Swell Trend: Lingering SSW swell Monday, new pulse Tuesday; Minor NW swell mixes in
  
• Wind: Light southerly wind the next couple of mornings. SW onshore flow Mon, W on Tue
  
• Tides: Push to mid-AM highs, mid-PM lows, getting deep again by sundown
  
• Water Temps: SB, Ven: Mid 50s, LA: Upper 50s 50s, OC-SD: Upper 50s-Low 60s

Short Term (Through Tuesday, April 23rd)

Light wind and lingering SSW swell to start the workweek. SSW swell sticks around on Monday, keeping similar size in the water compared to the end of the weekend. NW swell mix is down a little bit to start the day but picks up into the afternoon from a new pulse of mid-period swell. Not enough for crossed up peaks at the combo breaks, but it could be just enough to open a few corners. Average summer breaks continue to see surf in the waist-stomach occ. chest high zone, good spots up to shoulder high. Summer magnets of OC push shoulder-head high on the better sets — select spots slightly overhead. Light/variable to locally light S/SE wind early in the morning — North OC and westernmost spots in North LA are most prone to some early texture. More widespread S/SE wind develops throughout the morning, trending light to locally moderate out of the SW for the afternoon. Manageable to semi-clean evening window in the cards, especially for North LA, South OC and SD.

SSW swell reinforcements arriveas secondary NW swell sticks around. A mix of old SSW swell lefotvers and longer period energy from a new, similarly sized pulse on Tuesday. Lingering NW swell mix is enough to occasionally break up the longer period Southern Hemi lines. Average summer breaks continue to see surf in the waist-stomach occ. chest high zone. Good spots continue to go shoulder-high, albeit with less frequency than the past couple of days due to the new, longer-period energy on tap. Summer magnets of OC push shoulder-head high on the better sets — select spots slightly overhead. OC and SD could be looking at stronger southerly wind problems in the early morning with lighter/variable conditions to the north. Those southerly winds should lay down late mornign before trending to moderate westerly onshore flow in the afternoon.

Longer Range (Wednesday, April 24th, and beyond)

North Pacific Overview

NPAC slowing down for the foreseeable future with no longer period WNW swells of significance on the radar. Winding down through the middle of the week as the mid-period bump in NW swell winds down. There will also be some added shorter period NW energy as the low moves into the Pacific Northwest and the high gradually expands, pushing towards the West Coast. Steeply angled (300+), it’ll remain secondary to the Southern Hemi swell rolling in, enough to add a few corners to the mix.

Late next week/weekend could see stronger NW windswell as charts point to another later season storm along the West Coast. That one looks to remain primarily inland but shows potential for a decent size round of NW windswell mix as the inland low interacts with offshore high pressure. More storm activity in the Gulf of Alaska could follow, keeping seasonal shorter to mid-period NW swell mix in the water. Stay tuned.

South Pacific Overview

Another refresh of SSW/S swell heading into the middle of the week. Storm activity on a track from the central into southeast Pacific last week sends up a similar size round of SSW/S swell, starting to show Tuesday, 23rd, then peaking during the middle of the upcoming week. While size for good summer breaks will be similar to the pulse preceding it — waist-chest high for a better breaks, shoulder-chest-high+ for standouts — a more southerly approach angle will limit size for the South Bay and much of SD. Expect those larger sets to be limited to OC.

Surf tapers down into next weekend with smaller but still locally fun zone SW/SSW swell expected to be in the mix. With the potential for a little more NW windswell we’ll be watching the potential for playful/peaky beachbreak rather than anything solid. The medium term looks pretty mellow. There’s a few storms slated to develop over the next several days but they all look small, weak, on an unfavorable track, or some combination of those factores. Longer range guidance indicates more favorable storm activity during the first week of May, which would then take several days to traverse the Pacific, so we could be in for a bit of a slow period.