You don't have to work for the National Weather Service to understand that all signs are pointing to the return of El Nino this year in Southern California. In the last week alone San Diego has received close to six inches of rain in some parts. Winds have reached up to 40+ mph at the coast. Flood, mudslide and even tornado warnings have all been issued over the past six days. Oh, and let's not forget that some of the biggest surf in quite a long time has hit Southern California this week as well. Who knew that such an infantile phenomenon could wreak such havoc? Well, other than most parents I suppose.

The Wonderful Ones

The beginning of January began rather amazingly in San Diego. Temperatures ranging between seventy and eighty degrees graced our coast along with light winds and pumping surf. It's clear that the first two weeks of January more than made up for the whole winter of lackluster surf last year. In fact, every time I went to check the surf forecast this it seemed like each swell was predicted to be larger than it's predecessor. The sky was blue, the wind was light, the water was actually pretty warm for January. Then the child went and had his second birthday on us.

Photo: Anthony Ghiglia
Ryan Bracker slides into a green hole at Blacks.

Photo: Anthony Ghiglia
The first two weeks of January graced us with near perfect conditions as illustrated by this Blacks peak.

Photo: Anthony Ghiglia
Unidentified Blacks charger finds glory before being devoured by this green goblin.

The Terrible Twos

Monday the 18th of January was officially The Child's second birthday. His defiant and rebellious side came out in full force. For the next week we got to deal with his dark side. There were still moments of surfing bliss to be found in select areas of San Diego. Although those moments came to an abrupt end a couple days after the birthday when the gale force winds turned southwest and tore conditions to pieces. Since then most San Diego surfers have found themselves catching up on all that neglected work that somehow got pushed aside during the first two weeks of surf perfection in January. I suppose we all have to grow up eventually.

Photo: Anthony Ghiglia
A crowd pleaser at Scripps the day the rain came.

Photo: Anthony Ghiglia
La Jolla Shores throws up a teepee beneath the looming storm.

Photo: Anthony Ghiglia
John Maher snags a meaty one at Scripps.

Oh How They Grow...

The Child is going through a rough time right now. There is going to be some good times and bad during his development. Meteorologically speaking, it is likely that we could see more heavy rains for the next two to three months causing more coastal erosion and nasty street drainage leading to those dreaded sinus and ear infections that surfers deal with. It may be a good time to get updated on those hepatitis shots and wear some ear plugs before spending more time in the water. Based on previous El Nino conditions, the surf should continue pumping for the rest of the winter and the ocean temps should stay relatively warmer than normal. Are we going to see some early south swells this spring? Are we going to deal with coastal fog during May, June and July as in recent years? We'll just have to see what The Child has in store for us. With any luck, he'll introduce us to his sister, La Nina, next fall. Word has it that she likes to bring dry offshore winds through the fall and winter.

Photo: Anthony Ghiglia
Months worth of crud washes out into the ocean at Windansea. Yes...it's yellow.

Here's a comparative look the swell charts for January last year and this year. No denying this one.

Photo: Anthony Ghiglia
Most all of the sand at Windansea beach has been swept out to sea by the waves and rain.

Stay tuned for images from the biggest days of the swell coming in the second part of the California Winter gallery.