Weather at the Northern Channel Islands

By Ted Cumming

With a lifetime at sea, mostly near the Channel Islands, I have made some observations about the weather.  And like anyone's observations about the weather, mine are correct!  Here are a few.  I have others but a few will do.

Television weather reports are for entertainment only.  Key words like storm watch are hooks to keep us around for the commercials.  A storm in California can be a storm, or it might be 5-mph winds with just enough mist to curl hair. 

Conditions change.  A diver plans a trip and makes reservations on a sunny day then shows up for the boat when the weather turns bad. By the same reasoning the reservation phone rarely rings when it's raining. That's because it's difficult to absorb how quickly conditions change.  The sea and the weather are always in motion.  Experienced dive captains sometimes won't predict the next dive spot much less conditions tomorrow.  With the Internet sites now available it's possible to watch real time conditions and note the changes.

Weather is local. The only weather that really matters is the weather where you are!  That means that when the wind hits the north side of Anacapa Island you go to the south side.  This rule applies in a hundred different ways, none of which will come up on the evening news weather report.

The weather gods do as they please.  Pushed hard enough I will take a guess at the weather to come.  My guess will be based on local knowledge and years of experience.  But I may be wrong.  Weather doesn't ride a track or take aim at a destination then go there.  Too many times I've heard the argument that a diver can only go on a certain day, implying that the weather must cooperate. I sympathize but the weather doesn't care.  We shake our fist at the wind and are soundly ignored every time.

Clearing skies.  There is a calm before the rain and many times the ocean behaves well during the rain.  But divers, not wanting to be wet, wait for the clearing sky report on the evening news before heading to the boat to meet the wind.  And it's wind that clears the sky and it 's wind that follows the rain.

My advice to divers.  Be as flexible as possible.  Go diving when the weather is good!  Don't wait!  It's not always good!  Get into some of the great information that's here for us all.  Be prepared to have a rough trip now and then.  A willingness to take a chance will get you out on unexpectedly good days.