La Jolla Visibility Today: C Grade, 10 to 14 Feet, and a New Flag at Marine Street

Thursday in La Jolla looks a lot like Wednesday. Our beta model has it at a C grade, 10 to 14 feet of visibility, medium confidence. That is diveable water. It is not the day you call in sick for.

Here is what the model is chewing on. Surf tops out around 4.2 feet. The main swell is a short 7 second west wind swell near 3 feet, with a 1.9 foot south southwest swell at about 11 seconds underneath it. Short period stuff is the kind that stirs the sand in the shallows, and that is the main thing keeping this from a B. The model gave a B only about a 16 percent chance and a D about 30 percent, so if it misses, it is more likely to miss low than high.

Wind is the good news. The forecast has it averaging about 6 mph and peaking under 10, with gusts near 12. The usual story applies: get in early, before the afternoon breeze puts texture on the surface. Best window is early to late morning.

The water is still warm. The NDBC buoy is reading 76.3 degrees, which is wild for November. Tide range is about 4.8 feet with a low near 0.6 feet, so expect some water moving around the reef.

Now the water quality part, which matters more than the vis number some days. County data pulled this morning shows a new advisory at the end of Marine Street, posted Wednesday evening. La Jolla Cove is still under the advisory it has carried since late September, and Children's Pool still has its long running advisory. The countywide rain advisory from Nov 1 is gone, and most of La Jolla is open. If you were planning a Marine Street or Cove entry, check the county map before you go and think about the Shores instead.

Camera check: the newest Scripps Pier snapshot is from Wednesday's noon slot. Today's capture has not come in yet, so treat that image as yesterday's look, not this morning's.

Bottom line: a fine, ordinary Thursday. Go early, start at the Shores, keep your expectations around a dozen feet, and be pleasantly surprised if the canyon edge is cleaner. Full numbers are on the La Jolla forecast page.

Our vis model is in beta and still being validated, so treat the grade as odds, not a promise.