From Sean Collins and the Surfline Forecast Team : EFFECTIVE April 18
 
 
 

NORTHEAST (Maine ~ Virginia) -- Must Be the Whisky
March turned out pretty good for surf along the northern half of the East Coast. Frontal systems produced several days of 3-4'+ surf last month. As high pressures built in behind cold fronts, the Mid Atlantic coast saw moderate NE wind swells develop -- then the highs would push rather quickly offshore ahead of new lows/frontal systems and wind swells would rotate SE/S and spread north. Offshore winds around frontal passages/lows moving to the north created a handful of good, clean days as well. A low moved ENE from NC/VA and intensified offshore Feb 28-March 1, so we started the month off with fun groundswell from this, with several spots seeing 3-5' surf with light winds on the 1st. Several spots had consistent, solid 3-5' or higher surf the week of St. Patty's Day. The cleanest days that week were the 17th and again on the 22-23rd. An extremely strong late season cold front pushed through during the last days of the month. This sent head high SE/S swells to the region with increasing post-frontal offshores by the 31st. The NE gets a 7/10 for March. -- Mark Willis

 
 

SOUTHEAST (Georgia ~ the Outer Banks) -- Solid Spring Waves
After a harsh winter with too many flat days, March brought warmer weather, warmer water -- and most importantly -- BETTER SURF. Water temps around Cape Hatteras are entering the low to mid 50's while spots south of Hatteras are warming into the 60's. Most of the cold fronts that entered the region stalled out somewhere along the SE Coast, and sometimes low pressure areas formed along these lingering frontal boundaries to enhance wind swell. The Outer Banks had several days of 3-5'+ mixed wind waves as high pressure areas built to the north, with a smaller version usually filling into beaches south of the Cape -- but beaches to the south still had their fair share of moderate chop as well. On Sunday the 16th, fairly strong high pressure pushed off the Mid Atlantic coast as an old warm front and weak low moved north through the Carolinas. This set up clean 3-4'+ surf in Southern NC and South Carolina. Hatteras got their clean-up on St. Patty's Day. More chest high peaks were ridden from the 18-22nd. An unseasonably strong cold front approached at the end of March that set up 3-4' SE wind swells for many spots. Not bad. The SE also gets a 7/10 for the month. -- MW

 
 

FLORIDA -- Full Frontal Action
March was the best month of surf we've seen in a while for the Sunshine State. You can't really call it an epic month, but with air temperatures and water temperatures rapidly approaching a comfortable spring level and an abundance of rideable surf days -- you can't really complain either. We had several fun days of NE wind and/or groundswell from frontal systems that evolved to our NW to NE. Conditions were best when fronts approached or stalled to our north, giving Florida offshore or light and variable winds. Up to head-high, clean NE swells were reported in North and Central FL on the 15th and 16th from post frontal 15-27kt NE winds off the SE Coast to our NE. Weekend crowds were on it, to say the least. More fun NE ground swell was ridden on the 21st and 22nd. Good 3-4' surf was also reported fromt the 27th-30th in a mix of long period ENE groundswell from a Central Atlantic Gale and SE windswell ahead of a front. Finally, Reef Road hit head high in steep N swell on the 31st thanks to a rare, strong late season cold front. Florida also ends up with a 7/10 for March. -- MW

 
 
 
  Warmer Water and More Waves
One of the best things about springtime on the East Coast is water temperatures begin rising rapidly. All of a sudden, those marginal waist high days you wouldn't have paddled out in during the midst of a freezing cold winter begin to look more and more appealing. So for all of you wussy, less than hardcore, "I can't surf it's too cold" dudes -- your excuses are about to run thin. Just put on your wetskirt and go surfing.

If persistence means anything, April and early May will bring more consistent 2-4' surf to the East Coast with a handful of bigger days to the respective regions. Cold fronts will continue to struggle to push any further south/southeast as they enter the Carolinas and Georgia. As these fronts begin stalling out, watch for potential lows developing in the SE along the instability associated with our old front. These could produce sizeable windswells for many areas as the new low interacts with high pressure to the north. Another moderate SE windswell producer (as usual) will be areas of high pressure pushing offshore interacting with new frontal systems altogether. As we move through spring, the possibility of a blocking Bermuda or Western Atlantic High setting up is very possible. These will only provide minor S/SW windswells to much of the East Coast and small ESE swells for Florida, mostly in the 1-3' range. If short waves of low pressure move quickly through New England and/or Eastern Canada, the S/SW windswell could grow a bit, especially at south-exposed beaches near NY, RI, and Mass.

History tells us there is also about a 50 percent chance a slow moving Gale could develop in the North Central Atlantic which could send small to medium sized (head high or below), longer period groundswells to several East Coast locations. The chance of an early season tropical system developing is slim to none, but we are nearing Hurricane Season, so dust off those tracking maps. - MW
 
 
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Printable
 
Surfline http://www.surfline.com Know Before You Go.
The fine print:Our terms & conditions and privacy policy. All Information is Copyright Surfline 2002. All Rights Reserved.