7:15 am:   Much colder @ the beach.    An increased cold NW to N wind creating waves blowing by us offshore .  We have a minor wrap in with the wave size mostly about 1-2 feet . There could be some slightly bigger peaks, but again much of the swell is going by us to the south.   The wind is forecast to be N @ 20 knots this morning according to the early marine forecast .   Our local buoy is currently reading 4.9 feet at 6 seconds, up form yesterdays 3.0 feet at 10 seconds.   The water temperature is measured offshore at 66.2 degrees early this morning.  It’s likely cooler along the breach, estimated at 63 degrees this morning.  You can see the ocean live by viewing The Surf Station Cam Page here.

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10:45 am:  Here is a video/audio surf report from the beach . New YouTube surf report here.

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3:00 pm:   New photos are up box #2 and you can see it’s clean withe offshore winds.   The photos are from this morning and we though it would get smeller but the buoy has ticked upward some.   Will it get bigger or smaller the rest of the day?   Well, you can check this cam page for a live look and see….

After a fun work week of waves with mild weather and lighter wind, a strong cold front will sweep away the leftovers on Friday, setting up a bone-in-the-teeth blue norther that will kick in for Saturday. Wind will quickly rotate onshore on by Sunday, adding size to the surf early in the week leading up to Christmas. Looking way ahead, Dean extended the Surf Station Surf Forecast through the end of 2024, with a long-shot call for a moderate-size, multi-day hyper-long period (14-15 sec) ground swell (with offshore winds) arriving to start the New Year.

Here is a good link to accurately track real-time, near-shore wave height/period/direction and water temperature just off the NE Florida coast: the Fernandina Beach buoy. Located upstream (to the north) and closer to the coast than the St. Augustine buoy, it’s a good indicator of fluctuations in NE Florida surf conditions influenced by winter cold fronts. Here is an overview of a large-scale, real-time wind map to track the shifting winds associated with the fronts and lows that produce our waves.