Monday 12/18/23 Afternoon

Report Pictures

Report Overview

Report Title:

Monday 12/18/23 Afternoon

Reporter:

Tory Strange

Report Of The Day:

Change From Yesterday:

Smaller in size (early morning to early morning comparison)

Change From Last Report:

Offshore winds continuing as of mid afternoon

Current Wave Size:

1.5-2 feet, occasionally larger

Surface Conditions:

Glassy near shore

Surf Station Surf Factor:

3.25

3.25 (on a 1-10 scale)
Comments: Although not great, there are some occasional fun waves.

6 Hour Forecast:

Smaller thean yesterday but much cleaner waves with the wind offshore west. Wave size 1.5-2 feet, occasionally larger at times. The surf may drop some a sht wind continues offshore

Swell Info

Form:

Very good

Wave Size In Body Height:

thigh high with some larger set waves

Largest Wave:

Rib to chest high

Surf Is On Increase or Decrease:

Decrease

Wind Swell / Ground Swell / Combo:

leftover groundswell

Swell Direction:

E, with some mix

Current:

not near as much as it has been

Swell Interval:

12 seconds on the buoy offshore

Hard To Paddle Out:

2 (1-5 scale)

Wind Info

Wind Direction, Speed, & Air Temp:

Click Here

Wind Direction / Speed For Florida:

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Local Radar Link:

Click Here

Tides

Today's Tide Data:

Tomorrow's Tide Data:

View Full Year Of Tides:

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Temperature, Critters, & More

Water Temperature:

Water Clarity:

Stirred up

Critters:

no new reports in overnight

St. Augustine Weather Station:

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Surf Report Comments

Monday, December 18th

Reporter: T. Strange

Early weather comments from the SS weather page:

5:25 am: Finally clearing, sunny skies! We will have much cooler weather to come with it. High today 63 with a low tonight potentially down to 35 degrees

Surf Report comments:

7:10 am: The waves have dropped like a rock overnight. Smaller, cleaner surf this morning with wave size @ 1-2, occasionally a little larger, with the wind offshore west early this morning. On the local buoy the early morning wave height reading is 3.9 feet at 12 seconds, down from yesterdays 10.5 feet at 10 seconds. The marine forecast is calling for strong W winds today. The water temperature is measured at 62 degrees at The Pier this morning. View The Surf Station Cam Page here.

8:00 am: Early morning photos are up and posted in box #1 and you can see the waves are way cleaner, but smaller too. In between sets it’s oh so much smaller… but if you hang out a while you will see some well defined groundswells with still a little size still marching in. A lot of the waves are in the thigh to rib high range . The offshore wind has helped so much in improving the form. These same offshore winds have brought cooler air temps and have push down / beat down the swell. It’s oh so much smaller than yesterday, but way more manageable if you want a surf session today, one week before Christmas….

3:45 pm: New afternoon photos are up and posted in box #2 and boy do I have egg on my face as the waves had not dropped as much as called this morning. Hearing stories of head high set waves this morning! And it’s hard to upgrade the report now, as the waves are not as big / good as this morning.

So this afternoon report is more in line with the morning report, which was an undercalled report. In any event the waves are still clean and fun. It’s sunny and nice at the beach, just cool overall. The new photos in box #2 show some quite fun waves as of early afternoon. Overall it looks like fun surf all the way till dark tonight (as long as the wind stays offshore)…..

Here is the overview wind map, tropical Atlantic Map and here is the Map centered on St. Augustine. Click on the link, then zoom out to see wind speed/direction and the fetch that generates our waves. Here is the weekly weather forecast for St.Augustine Beach, and the 5-day NWS Marine Forecast for Northeast Florida coastal waters. Dean’s Surf Forecast (in the wake of the impressive El Nino-juiced Gulf low swell that just walloped us) looks ahead to a moderate-size, multi-day ground swell stuffing our booties later in the week leading into the weekend before Christmas.

Quote of the deja vu: “The swell began to take its rise. Watching its motion intently, he paddled before it with great quickness until it overtook him with sufficient force to carry his canoe before it, without passing underneath. The canoe was then carried alog at the same swift rate as the wave, ’till it landed him on the beach. Most astonishing, the man then paddled back out to sea in search of another swell.” Captain James Cook (first Westerner to observe and record the sport of surfing in Tahiti in 1777)

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Quote Of The Day

“Best Poles I’ve ever seen.”

~ Daniel Terry on yesterdays surf

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