La Jolla Visibility Today: Still a C, and Marine Street Is Still Flagged

Friday in La Jolla is still wearing Thursday's C. Our beta model has not rolled a fresh day yet, so the live forecast on the site is still the Thursday afternoon run: C grade, 10 to 14 feet, medium confidence. That is diveable water. It is not a reason to cancel, and it is not a reason to expect glass.

Here is what that run was chewing on. Surf tops out around 4.1 feet. The main swell is a short 8 second west swell near 2.8 feet, with a 1.9 foot south southwest swell at about 11 seconds underneath it. Short period energy is the stuff that stirs the sand in the shallows, and that is still the main thing keeping this from a B. The model gave a B about a 19 percent chance and a D about 27 percent, so if it misses, it is a little more likely to miss low than high.

Wind is still the friendly part of the card. The published forecast averages about 6 mph and peaks under 10, with gusts near 12. Same play as the rest of the week: get in early, before the afternoon breeze puts texture on the surface. Best window is early to late morning. Tide range is about 4.8 feet, with a high near 6:20 a.m. and a low around 12:50 p.m., so expect some water moving across the reef.

The water is still weirdly warm for November. The NDBC buoy in the published file is reading about 76 degrees. Bring the thinner rubber if that is your call. Just do not treat one buoy number like a full-column thermometer.

Water quality still matters more than the letter some days. County data pulled this morning still shows the advisory at the end of Marine Street that went up Wednesday evening, plus the long running flags at La Jolla Cove and Children's Pool. Tourmaline Drain Outlet is flagged too. Most of the Shores area is open. If Marine Street or the Cove was your plan, check the county map and think about a Shores entry instead.

Camera check: the newest Scripps Pier snapshot is still Thursday's noon slot. Today's daylight captures have not landed yet, so that image is yesterday's look, not this morning's.

Bottom line: an ordinary Friday built on Thursday's numbers. Go early, start clean, keep your expectations around a dozen feet, and be pleasantly surprised if the canyon edge is clearer. 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.