Humboldt County, California
Surf & Weather Report

Location: Humboldt County, California � Humboldt Bay / North Spit and Cape Mendocino area
Buoy focus: CDIP 094 � Cape Mendocino / Eel River, plus nearby NDBC / CDIP 46244 Humboldt Bay North Spit
Date: Saturday, November 14, 2026
All times: Local time for Humboldt County, California � Pacific Standard Time (PST). The request also mentioned Eastern Time; Eastern Time is not used because it is not the location�s local time.
Sources: NOAA / NDBC, CDIP / Scripps, NOAA Tides & Currents Station 9418767 Humboldt Bay (North Spit), NWS Eureka.

HAZARDOUS, EXTREMELY LARGE SURF. This is not a normal surf day. Very large, powerful swell, strong onshore / southerly wind, heavy rain, and water levels running above predicted tides were reported. Experienced surfers only, and many breaks will be closed out, unsurfable, or unsafe. Do not surf alone. Watch for sneaker waves, strong currents, debris, and flooding near river mouths and low-lying beaches.

1. WAVE SIZES

Overall call: Double-overhead to triple-overhead-plus, stormy and very messy. In surfer terms, most exposed breaks were head-high to well overhead, with sets reaching double-overhead and larger. This was not knee, waist, chest, or shoulder-high surf at exposed breaks. Sheltered or very protected inside spots would have been smaller, but still powerful and choppy.

Exposed west / northwest-facing beaches: Head-high to double-overhead-plus, with much larger sets. Expect closed-out, shifting peaks, heavy whitewater, and very strong currents.
Humboldt Bay North Spit / jetty area: Very large and dangerous. Buoy 46244 reported significant wave height of 29.5 ft at 1:26 AM PST, with a 14-second period and WNW direction. That is open-ocean significant height, not face height at the beach, but it means extremely large, powerful surf at exposed breaks.
Cape Mendocino / Eel River area � CDIP 094 region: Very large WNW swell. Nearby NDBC 46022 Eel River reported swell of 18.0 ft on the evening of November 13, with 4.6 ft of wind wave. Expect similar huge, storm-driven energy continuing into November 14.
Protected / inside breaks: Smaller than exposed beaches, but still chest-high to head-high-plus in places, with wind chop and poor shape. No clean, small, beginner-friendly conditions are implied by the buoy data.

What the numbers mean: Significant wave height is an average of the largest one-third of waves in open water. Individual sets can be much larger. At the beach, breaking wave faces are shaped by sandbars, depth, tide, and direction, so exact face height varies by break.

2. CURRENT WEATHER

Conditions: Cloudy with showers and rain developing. Very unsettled, stormy coastal weather.
Current temperature: About 59�F in Eureka.
Today�s high: Near 60�F.
Current wind: SSE about 16 mph.
Wind trend through the day: Southerly / southeasterly onshore flow continuing, strengthening at times with rain and showers, especially later today and tonight. Expect gusty, sideshore-to-onshore wind for most west-facing breaks, with poor surf texture and rain.

Humboldt County�s shoreline generally faces west / northwest. A wind from SSE / S / SE is therefore largely onshore to sideshore-onshore for west-facing beaches, not clean offshore.

3. TIDES

Station: NOAA 9418767 � Humboldt Bay (North Spit). Heights in feet, MLLW. Predicted astronomical tides; observed water levels were reported running above predicted levels during this storm.

High tide: 3:41 AM � 5.1 ft
Low tide: 8:04 AM � 4.0 ft
High tide: 1:45 PM � 6.3 ft
Low tide: 9:12 PM � 0.2 ft

Surf read: The midday high tide at 1:45 PM pushes water high onto beaches and sandbars, which can make many beach breaks deeper, softer, and more closed out. The evening drop to a very low 0.2 ft at 9:12 PM will expose bars and create strong tidal currents near the bay entrance and river mouths.

4. LATER TODAY & TOMORROW

Primary swell: WNW, very large. Buoy 46244 showed 14-second WNW energy, with swell reported at 13.8 ft in the latest NDBC summary and significant height near 29.5 ft overnight. Nearby 46022 showed 18.0 ft swell on November 13.
Secondary swell / wind wave: Short-period southerly wind wave, about 4.6 ft at 46022 on November 13, plus local wind chop building with the southerly storm wind. This secondary energy adds mess and cross-chop, not clean shape.
Later today: Surf stays extremely large and stormy. Expect continued double-overhead-plus sets at exposed breaks, with rain, onshore wind, and poor conditions for most surfers. Size may remain hazardous rather than cleanly dropping.
Tomorrow � Sunday, November 15: Rain and showers continue in the forecast, with a high near 60�F in Eureka. Surf is expected to remain large and powerful, though exact timing of any decrease cannot be stated without inventing model data. Do not assume tomorrow will be clean or small. Re-check CDIP 094 / 46244 and NDBC 46022 before going out.

5. 12-HOUR WIND

Important data note: A verified, complete 12-hour NOAA / NCEP HRRR hourly wind table for this exact location and run time could not be obtained from an official government source in this report. No commercial substitute and no estimated wind values are used below. The 12 rows below therefore honestly show the gap, rather than presenting made-up HRRR numbers as real forecast data. For current wind, use Section 2: SSE about 16 mph, with southerly onshore flow expected to continue.

Source / model / run time: Not available � verified NOAA / NCEP HRRR hourly wind data could not be obtained.
Shoreline reference: Humboldt County beaches generally face west / northwest. Wind FROM S / SSE / SE is onshore to sideshore-onshore. Wind FROM E / NE is offshore. Wind FROM N / NW is sideshore to sideshore-offshore depending on the exact beach angle.

TIME	WIND DIRECTION	WIND SPEED
3:00 PM PST	Not verified � HRRR data not obtained	Not verified
4:00 PM PST	Not verified � HRRR data not obtained	Not verified
5:00 PM PST	Not verified � HRRR data not obtained	Not verified
6:00 PM PST	Not verified � HRRR data not obtained	Not verified
7:00 PM PST	Not verified � HRRR data not obtained	Not verified
8:00 PM PST	Not verified � HRRR data not obtained	Not verified
9:00 PM PST	Not verified � HRRR data not obtained	Not verified
10:00 PM PST	Not verified � HRRR data not obtained	Not verified
11:00 PM PST	Not verified � HRRR data not obtained	Not verified
12:00 AM PST	Not verified � HRRR data not obtained	Not verified
1:00 AM PST	Not verified � HRRR data not obtained	Not verified
2:00 AM PST	Not verified � HRRR data not obtained	Not verified

6. DAYLIGHT

First light: 6:33 AM PST
Sunrise: 7:02 AM PST
Sunset: 4:59 PM PST
Total darkness: 6:34 PM PST

Daylight is short � about 9 hours 57 minutes from sunrise to sunset. With rain and heavy cloud, usable light will feel even shorter. Plan any surf check well before sunset.