Lack of waves in the South East??

Discussion in 'Southeast' started by ecoastprock, Jan 4, 2011.

  1. ecoastprock

    ecoastprock Well-Known Member

    157
    Sep 15, 2008
    Does anyone have any real meteorological evidence of why this has been such a terrible winter for waves in the south east?? With this winter transitioning into a strong Nina i expected it to be a little slow but this is crazy!
     
  2. whitewater

    whitewater Well-Known Member

    158
    Feb 25, 2010
    I think someone (maybe tony over at sweetwater but don't take my word for it) a couple of years ago posted something on the wblive message boards about weather patterns vs amount of surf. I know this doesn't help but maybe the guy who posted it will read this. I think it would be really cool to see the relation (or difference) in the two.
     

  3. headhigh

    headhigh Well-Known Member

    Jul 17, 2009
    whatever it is, i'm completely over it.
     
  4. Waveskier

    Waveskier Member

    24
    Dec 3, 2009
    It seems like Florida is getting a lot more surf than points north.
     
  5. headhigh

    headhigh Well-Known Member

    Jul 17, 2009
  6. whitewater

    whitewater Well-Known Member

    158
    Feb 25, 2010
    yup that was the forum

    HH
    I'm over it as well. That was a good surfline article about la nina and el nino.
     
  7. rlghdude

    rlghdude Well-Known Member

    47
    Aug 19, 2009
    In times like these I paddle out just for the feeling and to see how close I can get to dolphins. Helps ease the blues a little
     
  8. ecoastprock

    ecoastprock Well-Known Member

    157
    Sep 15, 2008
  9. whitewater

    whitewater Well-Known Member

    158
    Feb 25, 2010
    "The water temp theory is BS the water was way colder last year so i wonder whats really going on."

    i took a pee in the inlet. that's what happened
     
  10. Willy

    Willy Active Member

    26
    Jan 4, 2011
    The water cooled down much faster this year, than it did last year. Last year, we had a very mild December, like most years. The water slowly got cooled week by week through the winter. This year, the water was in the 70s one week, and then 3.5 weeks later the low 50s.

    Could the rapid rate of decline in water temp this year possibly have something to do with it?
     
  11. Jai-Guru

    Jai-Guru Well-Known Member

    69
    Jan 4, 2011
    Typically winters are on the flat side anyway. In el nino winters winters, characterized by unusually warm temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, the southern branch of the jetstream is more active thus more surf. La nina winters like this winter can be mild and dry with prevailing offshores. This year so far has been very cold but with constant offshore winds thus driving down the water temp.. My guess is we'll see a nice warm up later this winter but it doesn't mean we'll see surf...it's to cold anyway;)
     
  12. Swellinfo

    Swellinfo Administrator

    May 19, 2006
    The water temps are more correlated to the general weather pattern. When we have offshore flow, that is conducive to cooling water temps. Offshore flow also brings with it colder air temps down from the north and west.

    The weather pattern is the reason for lack of waves and not the coastal water temps, which themselves are also related to the weather pattern.

    On a larger ocean wide scale, there is definitely evidence that water temperature patterns feedback on to the atmosphere. My masters thesis was on this very topic.
     
  13. beagleagle

    beagleagle Well-Known Member

    110
    Aug 6, 2008
    so what does this mean for waves this summer?
     
  14. Jai-Guru

    Jai-Guru Well-Known Member

    69
    Jan 4, 2011
    Nice. It's curious with the above normal temps this spring, summer and fall that the winter temps are well below normal with this "la nina" winter. Even the "pineapple express" has hammered the California coast like you would see in an "el nino" year. Maybe we should rethink the effect of the equatorial pacific's water temps and it's influence on the weather around the globe...What's your opinion?
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2011
  15. Swellinfo

    Swellinfo Administrator

    May 19, 2006
  16. imperial

    imperial Well-Known Member

    255
    Jun 2, 2008
    Floods in Australia, Indonesia, and Brazil....freezing cold in the southeast, crazy snow in the northeast and Europe, earthquakes around the world, no surf for the east coast, birds falling from the sky, fish dying in the sea.....mmmmmmmmmmmmm sounds like the end of the world is just around the corner. That's what happens when man messes with mother nature. IT"S ALL BP's FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  17. PRShredder

    PRShredder Member

    16
    Jun 28, 2009
    The answer has nothing to do with meterology and everything to do with geography. It's the East Coast, the most inconsistent surf zone on the planet! Look on Surfline's Global Outlook map powered by LOLA on any given day and you'll see red and purple lighting up most of the world, while the East Coast of the US is almost always dark blue.
     
  18. Jai-Guru

    Jai-Guru Well-Known Member

    69
    Jan 4, 2011
    Yeah, it's pretty pathetic. I've got a place however that's worse. The central Texas coast around Galveston...with brown water to boot. Ironically South Padre island Texas can be quite consistent...
     
  19. PRShredder

    PRShredder Member

    16
    Jun 28, 2009
    @ Jai: Yes, Texas/anywhere along the Gulf Coast is definitely worse, making the East Coast the second most inconsistent surf zone on the planet.
     
  20. surfocmd

    surfocmd Member

    15
    Nov 22, 2008
    wrong the east coast is always pumping look at wblivesurf.com tomorrow. if your not happy with the east coast then move dont complain about it on a website the waves arnt pretty pathetic you are pathetic. complaining is not going to do anything do something about it, all this cold water bs just stop 3 or 4 degrees is not going to kill you you need a 4.3 anyway just man up and use it.


    instead of posting on the forum read a book.