Sunday, August 22, 2010

Swell season is kicking in!

Ahhh, the fall winds are already starting to blow on the East Coast; and the past couple of weeks have yielded decent windswells that provided some major relief from one of the most surf-starved summers in recent memory.
It looks like a mid- to late-week bump will be headed in our general direction (hitting much better a little bit north and a little bit south, as usual), but that's all just the appetizer for what forecasters say is coming next.
Currently, Tropical Depression Six is spinning in the Eastern Atlantic off of Africa's Cape Verde Islands and promises to become Tropical Storm Danielle within the next 24 hours (probably by the time you view this post). By Wednesday, it's projected that the storm will be a hurricane and should reach Category 2 status on Friday. Beyond that, forecasters can't be sure of what's next, but what's almost certain is that a deep, long-period groundswell will be headed our way!
Of course, the storm's fetch, intensity and proximity to our coastline will make or break whether the swell will provide ideal conditions -- along with local winds, tides and weather. But the potential for great waves is there, and it's arriving right on schedule with the Cape Verde season.
The Weather Channel has a great write-up about Danielle and the scenarios affecting her development and track, check it out here.
Swellinfo.com shows traces of the swell arriving Saturday and hitting with more size on Sunday, but predicting weather -- especially weather as volatile as hurricanes -- seven days out is a crapshoot.
So, keep your fingers crossed and hopefully this time next week we'll be feasting on Danielle's goodies! 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Followers