June sucked.
Wait, we take that back. June was actually good if you're an East Coast surfer. (Alberto, Beryl and Debbie all sent fun waves during a normally horrible time of year.) Or if you're a big-wave charger. (Remember giant Cloudbreak?) Or even a rabid WCT surf fan. (See: Volcom Fiji Pro.) But for most regular West Coasters who just wanted to get a couple fun waves before/after work, June 2012 can't be forgotten quickly enough.
And don't say we didn't warn you. Back on June 11th, ace forecaster Jonathan Warren issued our annual West Coast/Hawaii summer outlook, and gave it a solid "average" rating, pointing out the fact that "neutral ENSO conditions are forecast for much of the summer (June-August), but a gradual trend toward a weak El Nino in late summer and into the fall/winter is likely."
This translates to "slow start," which is exactly what we saw. Non-existent start, more like it. But luckily, after a little nap, the South Pacific finally woke up again at the end of June with stronger storm systems stepping into the SW Pacific -- as well as developing in the SE Pacific off the southern tip of South America. This flare-up in better storm activity sent up good overlapping pulses of SW and south groundswells for the West Coast, lighting up numerous spots from Central America to Canada from July 3rd-7th.
