Rincon, Puerto Rico Surf Forecast – Dec 8, 2016

More shorter period swell on the way for surfing Puerto Rico.

Shorter period windswell is setting up to be the norm for this December. We have a steady flow of storms forecast to travel across the Northern Atlantic and the pattern that has occurred so far will persist through this next forecast period. For the weekend we should continue to see some waist to chest high shorter period wind swell at the most exposed breaks and smaller and glassier surf lessons and beginner waves at the tucked away west facing beaches. The funnest sessions might not be the cleanest sessions. If you can settle for less than perfect but empty line-ups you’ll have a lot more opportunities to catch a wave.

Next week’s swell should give us some fun surf!

Again, don’t expect the waves without the wind. At least the wind is currently forecast to be more easterly so early morning sessions should be clean and the bigger days will be super fun at the tucked away, west facing beaches. The initial pulse and biggest day of the coming week will probably be Monday. After that, the rest of the week looks like it will mimic the conditions of this weekend. We should stay with surf for the foreseeable future, but right no big swells are on the horizon. I’m reading a lot about the polar vortex shift and it’s influence on the current weather patterns. I’ll try and do a general blog post on what this could mean for the 2016/2017 surf season here in PR. Have fun and be nice out in the water.

Using Automated Forecast Tools:

Remember that no matter what a computer model tells you, what you see on the beach might be completely different. That's why i go take pictures of the beach every day. These tools help give an idea of what to expect, but weather prediction is not always exact especially the further out you try to forecast. Surf forecasting takes into account the general correlation between past weather data and resulting surf conditions. Another thing to keep in mind is the difference between actual swell height and the face height of the rideable wave it creates. For example. When the waves are forecast to have a 6ft swell at 13 seconds or higher with a NW angle we normally get waves that most people would call double over-head on sets. Swell angle is also important, especially for shorter period swell (9-11 seconds). For example 3ft at 11 seconds from the NW will make a bigger wave than 4ft at 9 seconds from the NE. Normally longer period swell (13+ seconds) will be more powerful and keep the surf size a little better even if the angle isn't a direct hit to Rincon. Generally any swell less than 9 seconds is super weak here in Rincon unless it has a lot of west in it. Also, most NE swell under 12 seconds is weak and mushy. 2ft at 8 seconds is generally small to flat. ENE swell will almost never make it into Rincon unless it was something like 10ft at 18 seconds from the ENE.