July 9, 2012

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West Coast sees fun SW swell -- from Centroamerica to Canada, and select spots in between

Update: Click here for the photo and video slideshow

June sucked.

Wait, we take that back. June was actually good if you're an East Coast surfer. (Alberto, Beryl and Debbie all sent fun waves during a normally horrible time of year.) Or if you're a big-wave charger. (Remember giant Cloudbreak?) Or even a rabid WCT surf fan. (See: Volcom Fiji Pro.) But for most regular West Coasters who just wanted to get a couple fun waves before/after work, June 2012 can't be forgotten quickly enough.

And don't say we didn't warn you. Back on June 11th, ace forecaster Jonathan Warren issued our annual West Coast/Hawaii summer outlook, and gave it a solid "average" rating, pointing out the fact that "neutral ENSO conditions are forecast for much of the summer (June-August), but a gradual trend toward a weak El Nino in late summer and into the fall/winter is likely."

This translates to "slow start," which is exactly what we saw. Non-existent start, more like it. But luckily, after a little nap, the South Pacific finally woke up again at the end of June with stronger storm systems stepping into the SW Pacific -- as well as developing in the SE Pacific off the southern tip of South America. This flare-up in better storm activity sent up good overlapping pulses of SW and south groundswells for the West Coast, lighting up numerous spots from Central America to Canada from July 3rd-7th.

Unsurprisingly, Puerto Escondido managed to reap the biggest rewards, offering up some flawless beachbreak tubes for locals and visitors. "The swell started on Wednesday afternoon, with six- to eight-foot waves and inconsistent 10-foot sets," explained photog Edwin Morales. "Thursday morning was by far the best day we've had in a long time, and everyone was happy about it. By Friday, swell had lost steam, but conditions were as good as Puerto can get for a swell that size."

Meanwhile, a few thousand miles south, every WQS warrior from the States and Hawaii worth his salt found themselves lurking in El Salvador for the 3-star at Punta Roca. (Congrats Hank Gaskell!) And while the contest site actually saw the best of the swell, aerialists from all over the place went all over the place looking for wedges. Which they found. (Stay tuned for a full feature from El Salvador when Surfline's Billy Watts makes it home.)

As for the surf, the southerly energy gradually decreased in size as it went northward, as well as the swell angle shifting more from the SSE, limiting the amount of spots that would have exposure. Meanwhile, the SW-angled energy graced the entire west coast of the Americas, offering up some fun summer surf all the way up to the better-exposed spots of North America.

The entire state of California was not going Looney Tunes, unfortunately. Only select breaks really lit up. You could sit in the water in San Diego and see the swell lines pulse in and get bent back out to sea. Lowers saw perhaps the best of it, but after such a dismal June, the crowd was at an all time peak. Certain Central Cal spots saw some wedges, and Santa Cruz had a few moments in between thick fog and onshores as well. As a little bonus, the swell made its way up to Canada, where it snuck into some fun nooks and crannies. It was almost enough to make one forget the great June Gloom of 2012.

We asked Surfline forecaster Jonathan Warren if things were looking up, which, as it turns out, they were - from a southeasterly direction. "Aside from the recent run of Southern Hemisphere groundswells, the Eastern Tropical Pacific has flipped the switch as well," he said. "With a conveyor-belt of tropical cyclones currently developing one after the other off Mexico and tracking WNW, pulses of tropical swells are looking promising for the second week of July and possibly through the middle of the month -- which will mainly show for Baja and Southern California. Good thing too, as long range forecast charts indicate that the South Pacific will slow up once again for the next several days."