Did you notice Surfline’s new look? They’ve updated the entire appearance of the site, all the way down to the color of the conditions – a major change. Typically, an orange colored report would indicate the word ‘Good’ somewhere in the description, so when I pulled up the website this afternoon, I was confused at the conditions I was looking at. Then I got the little update informing me that they have opted for a “traffic light pattern”. Red = Stop, Green = Go, Purple = Epic. Interesting. Feels like it’ll take me a bit to get used to.
Speaking of surf cameras, I have been doing my best not to look at them. Brendan Buckley had a great quote at the end of one of the recent Stab podcasts. He said something along the lines of “looking at the surf cams is just giving yourself an excuse not to surf.” Hard not to agree with that. 9 times out of 10, if it looks shitty on the cameras, you can still find something fun to ride. At least that’s relevant in my area. Recently I’ve only been trying to browse the forecast and not look at the waves. I’ll give the cams a brief check when I know I’m not going to, or can’t surf, but that’s about the extent of it. It’s helped me get in the water more.
Where do you check the forecast? I usually use magicseaweed and surfline, and then compare them. I’m just checking for the next day or two, I have no idea how to look at any kind of long range forecast. With all of this rain we’ve been getting in California, a lot of people have turned into weather and wave forecasters. Soothsayers. All of a sudden everyone knows about atmospheric rivers. Pretty good stuff. I’ve seen a few of those charts posted around and it’s made me a bit curious. I should learn to read that. Do you know how to read a swell chart? Does it help with you scoring good waves? Is it worth the time to learn? Should all surfers know how to interpret one of these? Questions for the uninformed.. Your input is appreciated.
Cheers,
hwilsin