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Stormy Petrel

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Data sources

NWPS — nearshore wave model
WAVEWATCH III — spectral swell
HRRR — 3 km wind
NDBC — realtime buoys
CO-OPS — tide predictions

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Forecasts refresh every 6 h · buoys hourly

California

El Capitan State Beach

pointtide: mid

1.0Updated 0 min ago

Face

2.3ft

9s period

Swell

WNW

284°

Windoffshore

3 mph

N

Tide

1.7 ft

slack

ConditionsChoppy

Choppy

49% wind sea

Swell breakdown

WAVEWATCH III

Wind sea

WNW

4.1ft

6s

not surfable

not surfable

P1 (primary)

WNW

2.7ft

9s

74%

P2 (secondary)

WSW

1.4ft

12s

19%

P3 (tertiary)

SSW

0.8ft

15s

7%

Swell components (ft) · next 48h

Wind speed (mph) · next 48h

Tide (ft) · next 48h

Spot info

Breakpoint

Tide preferencemid

Crowdmoderate

Hazardsrocks, shallow, reef, localism, cold water

Optimal conditions

SwellW 270°

WindN offshore

Tidemid

Period10s+

Breakpoint

Nearest buoy

BuoyNDBC 46053

Hs—

Tp—

Dir—

Water58°F

Reading5/14/2026, 5:00:00 AM

View NDBC station page →

7-day forecast

Time

Rating

Face

Period

Swell

Wind

Tide

Thu, May 14

2am

2.4

8s

WNW283°

5mphcross

0.6ft↓

5am

2.8

7s

WNW283°

7mphcross

0.3ft↑

8am

2.8

8s

WNW281°

6mphcross-on

3.1ft↑

11am

2.8

8s

W281°

6mphcross-on

3.6ft↓

2pm

2.6

10s

WNW282°

9mphcross

1.6ft↑

5pm

1.9

11s

WNW285°

5mphcross-on

2.3ft↑

8pm

0.8

15s

SSW199°

5mphcross

5.5ft↓

11pm

2.5

13s

WSW239°

3mphcross

5.3ft

Fri, May 15

2am

2.6

10s

W263°

7mphcross-off

1.0ft↓

5am

3.4

9s

WNW283°

8mphcross

-0.8ft↑

8am

3.5

9s

WNW283°

6mphcross

2.0ft↑

11am

3.5

9s

WNW283°

5mphonshore

3.9ft↓

2pm

1.3

13s

SW217°

8mphcross-on

2.3ft↓

5pm

1.3

13s

SW217°

6mphonshore

2.2ft↑

8pm

0.9

14s

SSW201°

6mphcross-off

5.3ft↑

11pm

2.0

13s

WSW242°

4mphcross-off

6.1ft

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