Thanks to a storm in Tahiti, this weekend will be a great time for surfers. South facing beaches in LA and Orange Counties are expected to have 8-10 foot swells. This translates to LARGE waves. In some spots, the surf will be well overhead (approx 6+ feet). This weekend is the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach. You can bet these guys and gals will take full advantage of this swell. If you’e never seen pro surfers shred it up in person before, this would be a great weekend to do so.

If you’re not a surfer however, this may be a crap weekend to be at the beach. Sure the temperatures will be high, but the lifeguards will most likely be keeping people out of the water as best as they can. With large waves comes strong rip currents. Weaker swimmers can easily get knocked over by a wave and then sucked out to sea very quickly. The lifeguards will have their hands full this weekend.

If I remember correctly, last June was scorching hot. I hate scorching hot.

And yes, I know that I probably live in the wrong geographical area for someone that doesn’t really like heat, but hey, I was born here.

So, count me out amongst the complainers. Give me clouds and cool breezes any day of the week.

And yes, even a bit of drizzle.

I’ve got a perma-tan from living here all my life, I don’t need to worry about the state of my tan lines.

Surf music at the beach??

I would like to start off this post by apologizing. I’m sorry if you were working or otherwise involved with life las Sunday, that you were stuck indoors or couldn’t make it to the beach. I’m not trying to rub it in your face. I promise!

My best friend and his wife just got new bikes, so my wife and I decided to join them for a ride around Huntington Beach. Oh boy was I glad I did! I’m fairly certain the weather at the beach was even nicer than it was inland. Honestly, how often does that happen? Especially in June!

More photos and a video after the jump……. (more…)

I was wondering why my nose was all itchy and I kept sneezing yesterday. On the bike ride into work I could feel why. The Santa Ana winds feel like they are going to kick up. A quick check of the weather forcast confirmed it. We may get gusts up to 50 miles an hour overnight. Now would be a good time to close those patio umbrellas and secure anything outside. If you have allergies, be ready with that antihistimine. I am glad I have a mask for riding.

From Chapman in Orange to San Pedro

At last, spring has come to Orange County! I allowed those two terrible months of cold weather (I had ice on my car!!!), but now it’s time to get back to the best reason to live in Southern California……warm, sunny, beautiful days like this one. As I drove over the hill to Santiago Canyon College for some school stuff, I could see it was gong to be a beautifully clear day. I just hoped it would stick around long enough for me to take some pics. As you can tell, it did.

As soon as I finished my clinical work, I sprinted up to Orange Hill Restaurant. Not for their lackluster food, but for the view they have of the entire North County area. It’s easy to forget just how close to the ocean we all are here, thanks to traffic, wonky streets and freeways and the flat land. But as you can see, we’re really not too far at all.

I took some more pics, which you can see after the jump —–>
(more…)

As I was driving to meet some friends this morning I quickly snapped this shot of the sun rising over the Santa Margarita Mountain Range:

It looks like the weather could go either way today. I would suggest layers. This has been a OC Metblogs morning weather update. (And I wanted to share w beautiful sight with those who may not have been up at 6:30 am ad looking East. )

Hail @ the Spectrum

Hi all ~ I’m Tracy and the newest blogger here at OC Metblog. Thanks for having me. I have a broad range of things I’m interested in from sports to shopping and everything in between. So, unless you tell me otherwise I’ll just be sharing what’s on my mind. Let me know if you agree or think I’m totally cuckoo … hopefully the former :)

O.K. now that the introductions are out of the way, here’s what on my mind today … did you happen to see it hailing this morning? If not, lucky for you I had my camera with me. I took these pictures at 9:30 a.m. at the Irvine Spectrum just outside of Corner Bakery. 

Hail @ The Spectrum

Oh, and this was on my mind yesterday.

P.S. I blog, but I’m new to Wordpress, so please excuse my growing pains and give me an eensy bit of leeway.

I know we are spoiled here in Southern California, but tonight it is frickin cold. Driving home at 8:30 tonight the ambient temp outside was 42….Forty-two! That’s below freezing, right? (according the the native Southern Californian scale)
Sometimes I forget that while we live by the beach and have foothills, Orange County is still technically a desert in a geological/topographical sense.

Having just had our own spate of wildfires, we here in Orange County can understand, to a point, the horror of what is happening in our Metblog sister city Melbourne. I’ve just read that the death total has reached 171, and I fear that as they search through the burned areas, they will find more.

I also have a dear bloggy friend in Melbourne. She’s written about some of what is going on there, of how her friend’s homes have been destroyed and the people that have been lost.

I know I am sending all the positive vibes I can their way, and I hope you will join me.

I love the rain. It was a great day. I really love when we get the half rain, half sunshine thing. Then we get rainbows and pretty clouds!

Pretty!

Click to see a couple more nice pics…..
(more…)