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(Previous) 05/05/2005 (Next)
Hot and cold spots on a unique swell.
A recent storm near New Zealand has produced a uniquely angled swell of 210-215 degrees for Southern California. Unfortunately, this swell has some major obstacles to overcome to reach our shores.
Continued below...
First, it sat square in the shadow of Tahiti and the Society Islands which chewed up more than half of its energy. That's not all either. It now has to go through the maze of nearshore islands (Catalina, San Clemente, Channel Islands) this weekend before producing waves on our shores. There will definitely be hot and cold spots to go on this swell and using LOLA's nearshore animations, you can get a good idea of where to find the biggest waves. The image on the right displays the type of breaking wave heights you can expect later this weekend for South Orange County, which would be considered one of the better locations. The image on the left gives an overall view of Southern California and if you look up toward the Huntington Beach area (a zone usually known for picking up most Southern Hemi swells) you'll notice that the surf will be a whole lot smaller. When using this tool, along with the written Surfline forecast, you'll be able to score the best waves, while your buddy just up the coast might get skunked!

Like what you see here? Want to get this type of detailed forecast information on a daily basis, for every major surf region on earth? Then SIGN UP NOW for a Surfline Premium Membership. (First month's free.)

WHAT IS LOLA?

LOLA is the world's only automated global surf forecasting tool. LOLA can forecast waves right down the street, or it can predict surf conditions at the top spots around the globe - breaks like Tavarua, Tahiti and Jeffrey's Bay.

LOLA uses the NOAA Wavewatch III engine (running on our own computers) with Surfline-modified data from various wind models (AVN, GFS, MRF). Then LOLA combines this information with empirical data we've programmed into her gained from over 30 years of surf and weather analysis here at Surfline.

LOLA also gathers real-time data from offshore buoys to measure wave pulses from storms around the world every hour. She taps into orbiting satellites to measure hurricane-force winds and tremendous wave heights in the heart of raging storms when huge ships are running for cover. She computes near-shore wave animations measuring detailed wave heights along the coast, taking into account how swells are distorted by offshore islands and the continental shelf.

When you add it all up, LOLA is the ultimate forecasting tool for surfers looking for timely, accurate and comprehensive information about waves.

Initially, we created LOLA as a proprietary tool for Surfline forecasters. But we decided to share the knowledge and give Surfline's Premium Members the chance to use LOLA themselves, to give them the best chance to score more good surf more often.

Not a Premium Member? Then CLICK HERE for a free LOLA demo.

If you are already a Premium Member, please proceed straight to the LOLA home page.