It’s no secret that the surf has been flat – really flat

It’s no secret that the surf has been flat – really flat – even when viewed through the often rose-colored lenses of Virginia Beach standards. More often than not over the past month (cringe), we have been graced by the serene waters of Lake Atlantic.

Picturesque? Yes. Making us all fiend for waves? Definitely.  Outside of a little south windswell wrap at the beginning of last week, we are in the throws of one of the most prolonged flat spells in recent memory. After an active summer 2009, fall and winter; spring has proven to be less than cooperative. In fact, the last time a flat spell had such staying power was December through February of 2009 – months which proved to be the polar opposite this year. March delivered as well.

But April, oh April... Now May is shaping up the same.

The traveling surfer has scored some fun sessions since mid-March around the Mid-Atlantic, with the bulk of the action coming in the form of southwest windswells in the Outer Banks (check out these photos Josh took of me on one of these swells in Hatteras Island. We logged that session and made it back to VB before clocking in at Surf and Adventure. Pretty cool). 

But for about 90 percent of those who couldn’t or didn’t venture south of the Commonwealth, this has been a trying time for sure.

With all of this time to do mental surfing (since we aren’t really in the water), my thoughts led me to question why this weather pattern has reared its ugly head. So, I snuck out of Rob’s view at work and gave meteorologist Lyle Alexander at the National Weather Service in Wakefield a ring to get to the bottom of this.

According to Lyle, the pattern we have found ourselves in is the equal and opposite reaction from the active fall and winter we enjoyed.

“Not since really last spring – outside of a week or two in September – has the Bermuda Ridge been so dominant,” Alexander said. “It’s finally happened, and it’s resulted in some above average temperatures” which made this April the 10^th warmest on record for our area.

He forgot to mention it’s resulted in below average waves.

Here’s why: the clockwise rotation of the Burmuda Ridge – aptly named due to it’s positioning near the small island far off the North Carolina coast – has caused a southerly/southwesterly wind flow across the Eastern Seaboard. For most of us – south-facing beaches excluded – that kind of wind pattern translates into desperate flatness. Alexander said this hostile swell-generating environment is even worse for our locale, as every low pressure system following the jet stream is tracking far more northerly than usual. Low pressure creates swell, and it’s just not going to happen as long as the Bermuda Ridge dominates our weather.

But Lyle wasn’t going to be a total bearer of bad news. Yes, kids; there’s hope.

“These patterns come and go,” Alexander said. “From my experience, when it’s really warm in April and May, that pattern will break down during the summer and things should be cooler and more seasonable.”

This means that the Bermuda Ridge should pull away from the coast, allowing the jet stream to meander south as low pressure dives across the continent. This brings cooler weather, and once those storms exit the coast and enter the open ocean, waves follow suit.

So did Lyle say this was going to be a great surf summer for Virginia Beach? Not exactly, but he did say that these totally flat days will probably come to an end sooner rather than later.

As always, I’ll be keeping an eye on things around the Mid-Atlantic and jump on it when something flares up. It would be nice to get a fun one at the home break, but oh well, sometimes you got to pound the pavement to get your fix.

And like Lyle said, at least the weather has been nice.

John Streit.