El Nino Winter 2023-2024 WFL Tampa/St. Petersburg Bradenton Clearwater Surfing
WFL had a great winter for surfing due to the EL Nino weather pattern. Cool WX with lots of lows and fronts making for fun surf!! Pics below.
Monday 3/4/24 6am WFL: Weak Low pressure will cross the top of the gulf tomorrow. There may be a south line for logging on Wednesday at some point. Local seas look 2ft range on Wednesday. That south line should be around on Thursday also and could be ridable at best south facers. Friday PM has a south line also and Saturday should have some better waves as the southy is forecast to grow along 3-4ft seas paralleling the WFL coast this weekend. Summary: Lots of small south lines that hopefully get rideable at some point watching the southern gulf near Western Cuba and the Yucatan to see if these weak lows this week and can make it blow long enuf and hard enuf to make south south waves. It could get fun or it could stay weak. Best guess times to check it- Wed PM, Thursday am, Friday PM and Saturday PM… We’re watching it… Deets below updated.
Details by Diaco updated to show wave chances this week.
Details by Diaco:
Details by Diaco updated to show wave chances this week.
Details by Diaco:
Monday 3/4 calm.
Tuesday 3/5 calm.
Wednesday 3/6 1ft southy, knee high south line PM.
Thursday 3/7 1ft southy, maybe plus, worth a check.
Friday 3/8 1ft southy.
Saturday 3/9 1-2ft south swell.
Sunday 3/10 2-3ft SW wind waves.
December had waves every week. First month in awhile that we could say that about. How has it been WFL? I’m 1100 miles away and I need a report- how fun was December? gracias!!
Had 15 surf sessions at TI in 9 days spread out in December. Like you said, there was a cold front each week. It was consistent and not too crowded.
that awesome man!! surf life!!
you got it HD
anybody want to take me surfing sunday am? I’ll be in
Largo with 2hrs to spare 🙂
should be back soon thank god. my tricep disappeared but alot better movement now. dibs on the wash thru sets…
Hi Micah, I’ve got an extra wetsuit and board, if you want to try TI early Sunday 2-7-24,before game.
I’ll email you with contact info.
i attempted to hobble out and paddle a few strokes see how itd go. im not quite ready still — bit too rough rn but theres alot of swell out there, an onshore breeze and incoming tide so…
I am off all week and looking forward to tomorrow. Maybe a little tonight if the storms settle down early enough.
Watching Fox 13 live from sunset Beach this morning it looks firing
Also nobody out at the North peak
OriginalJud, I was out there all morning and it was soooo funnnnnn!!! I surfed until my arms/shoulders hurt and then sat on the beach and shot some pics of Jordi, Tony, Noah, Matt, and the rest of the crew. Beautiful day out for the most part as it wasn’t all that cold. It was super glassy early on to make it that much better. Editing my shots now.
Awesome!! send us some of the best Russ so stoked for you guys- I surfed Table Rock today head high with 4 guys out
Russ D just saw the shots on Gulfster nice
It is still going out there. If I had to work and just got off I would be stoked at what is out there. 😀 This was a good swell, I hope it is a sign of what will come all winter. This reminds me of 40 years ago when we got a front a week and had 1-3 days of surf from them. Our 24-hour notice was when heavy storms would pound Texas and then cross into the GoMex towards us. Surf sunset on the Westies, Upham on the NW’s, and Venice, B.St., Twin Piers, or The Cove for the clean-up. I hope everyone caught the goods and is as tired as I am, but ready for more. 😀
3½ feet @ 10 seconds on the Egmont Buoy but it looks micro on the Pinellas cams. Super low tide is definite;y hurting it. Mid-morning incoming push? I will be keeping an eye on it. Yesterday was fun rare gem for us in the GoMex. ??????
Longboard heaven south of the bay this morning. Glassy stomach high w an awesome vibe in the water. Everyone hollering for each other. Classic cold front cleanup
ticked at myself that i missed the semiannual gulf groundswell celebration. oh well, in my days here ive been completely alone several times at dawn for well over an hour during pumping west swell w se / ne winds respectively like holloween (sic) 2019? and again april 2020? so i got that going for me. hopefully i can attempt another handicrapped dip soon.
Im wondering. If these cold fronts move west to east across the continent. at least what looks like west to east, was this last swell the same swell that hit california? Those mega waves?
It seemed bigger and cleaner than usual here!
Man what a good swell! It was still firing yesterday evening even!
It is looking like a slow start for the waves this morning. The Egmont buoy is not showing much, yet. Mid-morning and later today could be best with an incoming tide and (hopefully) building swell.
Saturday 4-6pm wind finally calmed and switched NNE enough to smooth out the water between sets.
Good call Micah. Still good energy in the waves.
thanks for the reports guys, stoked your getting to surf a lot!
i’d be out there mid-morning incoming at a groundswell spot down south.
managed to paddle around and feel out the mending wing for around an hour this morning. didnt try for any waves/ it wasnt really breaking deep enough yet but i really needed that and feel alot better now.
idk how much surfing means to some of yall but dont take it or your health for granted. i try to end every single session no matter the conditions with a standout wave and always tell myself, “there will be another time” when walking onto shore. find something or someone you love that much and it makes life a bit easier to go through…
Still pretty shallow down south but the swell is there.
got the all-clear today. yall had your shot at some consistent waves for once, back soon to vibecheck you at your favorite area sandbar…
El Niño winter feels good man.
Hang in there bud, sorry for your loss
Sorry to hear about your Mom Micah. Praying for God’s peace and comfort for you and your ohana.
Sorry for your loss Micah
I’m sorry for your loss Micah. Prayers for you and your family.
Sorry to hear about your loss Micah. Just take peace in knowing she is in a better place and pain free. Always a heart wrencher when we lose a loved one. Take care and keep the faith bro.
Sorry to hear about your mom Micah, never easy. She’s in a better place now though. Prayers up for you and your fam.
Sorry to hear about your Mom bro. I know we spoke recently and that she hadn’t passed at that time. Just know that I’m sending condolences to to you as well as the family. My thoughts are with you all.
sorry for your loss man. some good news tho, i skimmed today for the first time and it went really well, lot of feels (still) for sure. little sw swell out there. hopefully can pop up on the surfboard at some point soon…
Sorry to hear your Mom passed away, Micah. Sending condolences to you and your family in this difficult time.
surf building rapidly at sekret spot. i still dont really have the arm strength to pop up but gettin there and paddled some. tons of ppl for run fest, some parking…gonna be a choppy slopp mess…
get better hd! hope I get to surf with you guys-looks like a few chances over the next week.
Aloha Micah,
Got Yu on Wetsuit and log if you’re headed here and need it. I have a couple of foamies, log, and “older”guy type boards and an XL wetsuit if you need it.
Vern
Weeves – I have a board if you need to borrow one.
I’m happy to get you on a log and wetsuit if u can surf micah, hit me up! Jacob C*
sounds good!!
If you make it down south, I have a LB and super floaty twin fish you can have some fun on. Make sure to visit the water while you’re here. She has much to share with you… ??
??????
Just saw that memorial
I’m very Sorry to hear of your loss, Micah
Tampa Clan will be praying for Grace & Peace for you and your whole fam.
Good Luck!
thanks for the words everybody, and thanks for the report CB- waves look fun today Tuesday….
Super fun this morning in St Pete. Was nice to have the winds, tide, swell, bottom condition, magnetic fields and all the other infinite necessities needed to make fun surf in Pinellas all cooperate at the same time.
i had a down the line knee ride sunday early pm after a fun skim session. surf was inconsistent but rising and still gettin my feels back. almost there…turned 33 mon!
Last evening was fun at The Zoo. It was strangely uncrowded and clean. The sets were about chest high and mostly lefts(my fav). I am forced to work directly on AMI this morning, poor me HAHA. So I am leaving early with boards packed in hopes of finding some little nuggets. This winter reminds me of how it was around here when I first started surfing 40+ years ago. 1-3 days of waves every week.
so cool Russ it was no crowd when I surfed it too and those winters in the 80’s were rad!! so stoked and grateful for surf!! hope you score today, try the spots a little farther south that are not shoaled out, let us know!!
Knee to thigh with waist plus sets. Really fast walls and hard to make the shoulders. Fun enough for an hour of surf on a workday. I should’ve brought my super floaty fish but I thought it would have more size and power.
this is lookin like an extended smaller end but medium period event. light winds this am, gonna turn on (off?) for a minute…can i pop up tho? tbd…
finally got up on a bunch, first in about 4
months. some fun small, punchy waves. got me
super hype, perfect morning. cheers!
Good to hear you are healing and catching waves again, HD. I got out for a few this morning and was treated to some fun, small, empty waves with some punch here and there.