Tag Archives: surf forecast

Go Play This Wednesday

This Wednesday is holding on. Go up to north beach or crab hole Wednesday for a fun little swell. The winds look about 10 knots at the coast with stronger winds offshore. I never know what the actual skies will look like because NOAA and the NWS who support the forecast never seem to get it right. The south swell being forecast by Micah doesn’t look to me like it will fill in in north Pinellas County. Wednesday is a lock with this model showing 20 to 25 knot winds offshore. That would create some good surf, so we should at least see a fun little longboardable wave.

Here’s the south flow showing up on the Navy model for Tuesday.  That looks like a complete skunk this afternoon. Sure, head on up to the panhandle for some head high surf, but not here. 5 to 10 knot south flow is just not going to do it.

As night falls we’re seeing the west winds reach their highest speeds. Especially at zero hundred hours on Wednesday we see a substantial west wind field. That shouldn’t take too long to get here.

That wind field seems to be lingering in the gulf, right in the ideal spot. The frame below from twelve hundred hours is enough to keep the surf going into the evening.

You’ll also note that through the duration of this swell the stronger winds are holding offshore while the winds at the coast are milder. The model run I’m looking at here makes this upcoming swell look like a great swell. The forecast is calling for a mostly sunny day with a high near 80°.

A Blip On The Maps

There’s a little southy blip showing up on the map today.  It wasn’t dropping into the model yesterday. Today a southy is set to cruise into the coast as what looks like a circular low rolls through the gulf. The southy should be around on Wednesday only. At this piont it’s a short window of small surf generated by long Yucatan fetch. I’ll have more for you on the actual makeup of the system as the low approaches the short term wind speed model’s 3 day window. Things could change. This could get better, or it could completely disappear from the model, back to the way it was yesterday with all east wind. We’ll see.

Hey Micah: What’s Actually Happening?

Micah just posted a surf forecast for the gulf. He’s calling for mostly bad surf in the upcoming swell. The model I looked at shows 20 knot west winds with this front (see gfs model link below). His forecast isn’t what’s confusing me. It’s not unusual to see the model different front what Micah forecasts. Micah is usually pretty good. What’s confusing me is what he wrote this time. He’s talking about a low blowing over by California and it taking 24 hours for it to get here. California is on the other coast. That wouldn’t be generating any waves. Hey Tony, if you read this, would you ask him to clarify? I just don’t understand what he’s saying. Is this one like that last one where it starts on the Texas coast as a ripple? If so, shouldn’t it be a really good swell like that other one?