Hurricane Gonzalo Swell hits the East Coast
Chasing Hurricane Gonzalo up the Florida East Coast, we scored some epic waves.
Good Things About Hurricane Gonzalo as it pertains to East Coast swell:
1. Gonzalo is a Category 4 hurricane, the strongest in the Atlantic basin since 2011. 2. Favorable track the past few days generally towards the US East Coast (especially the northern half of the EC). 3. Slow movement of the system the past few days aided in swell generation. 4. Many east facing breaks will have favorable local winds through the peak of the swell. The Not So Good Things About Hurricane Gonzalo: 1. Intense, Major Hurricane producing long period swell energy directed towards the East Coast -- not ideal for the majority of spots, especially beach breaks. 2. Significant threat to Bermuda SWELL POTENTIAL FOR THE EAST COAST: The track and intensity of Gonzalo are very favorable to send medium to large surf to breaks along the East Coast, especially for breaks from the Outer Banks northward. The more exposed breaks will see no shortage of swell when the surf peaks from Gonzalo and some select breaks may even see a bit too much size for the local bathymetry to handle.
Expect the leading edge of the Gonzalo swell to begin to edge in for breaks from Florida through the Southeast US and into the Mid Atlantic on Thursday. This may be tough to discern in the Southeast and Mid Atlantic where the local S/SE windswell will remain the dominant source of surf. Stronger swell from Gonzalo is due to fill in on Friday, peaking for much of the East Coast. Swell peaks later for New England because the swell has a greater distance to travel before reaching the region. Expect Gonzalo swell to fade from south to north over the weekend. To find out details in your local area including specific timing, please monitor our expert written forecasts and stay tuned for additional updates as we acquire more data.
Check out surfline.com for more details:
