san diego · live forecast
Fair at mid reef — Workable. Manage expectations. 5.3 ft / 9s W swell stirring the bottom; elevated chlorophyll (10.7 mg/m³).
Depth · pick where you'll be
visibility right now per tier
Forecast
Now
WED, MAY 20, 3:00 PM
Viz
15 ft
9–24
Condition
Fair
Conf
4%
Swell
5.3 ft
9 s W
Wind
10 mph
W
Tide
-0.3 m
incoming
Rain
—
dry
Bottom motion
0.53 m/s
stirring
Chl-a
10.65
mg/m³
Reasoning
Three forces push visibility down — turbidity, runoff, biology. One pulls it back up — clearing. Here's how each is contributing right now, and how it changes over the next five days.
high · impact
Swell stirring the bottom.
5.3 ft, 9-second W swell is producing strong near-bed motion at the site's average dive depth of 14 m, exceeding the rock-and-sand critical stress. Expect murky water until the swell drops or rotates away from the W window.
Next five days
When swells reach the seafloor, they kick sediment back into the water column. Long-period swells reach deeper than short-period chop.
high · impact
How green the water is.
Elevated biology — latest satellite chlorophyll-a 10.65 mg/m³; 267 h old. Expect green water and reduced clarity.
Next five days
Phytoplankton blooms make water green and reduce clarity. Tracked via satellite chlorophyll-a and Kd(490). Cloud cover lowers confidence here.
negligible · impact
Rain pushing dirt offshore.
No significant recent rain or streamflow anomaly across Point Loma outfall, San Diego River mouth.
Next five days
Rain carries freshwater, sediment, and dissolved matter from rivers, lagoons, and storm drains. Plumes can degrade visibility for days after a storm.
weak positive · impact
Conditions improving.
No strong clearing tendency — conditions are stable for now.
Next five days
How fast the system is moving back to clear. Settles when swells drop, rain stops, and incoming tide brings cleaner offshore water in.
Water column
Surf zone
0–10 ft
Shallow reef
10–30 ft
Mid reef
30–60 ft
Deep
60–100 ft
Below 100 ft
100–150 ft
— surface
Below the bottom-stress zone the water clears blue, even on a swell day. Surf zone is always limited by breaking-wave turbidity.
WRI
0.99
turbidity (primary tier)
Plume
0.02
runoff
Green
0.98
biology
Clearing
0.00
recovery
V_h(depth) = V_max · tier_mult(depth) · exp(−B)
B = 0.55·WRI(depth) + 0.50·plume + 0.35·green − 0.45·clearing
Model physics-0.3.0 · confidence 4% · read the long form
{
"wave_source": "openmeteo-marine",
"wave_status": "ok",
"wave_latest": "2026-05-18T23:00:00+00:00",
"rain_source": "openmeteo-forecast",
"rain_status": "error",
"tide_source": "noaa-tides-9410170",
"satellite_source": "erddap-multi",
"satellite_status": "ok",
"satellite_latest": "2026-05-09T12:00:00+00:00",
"streamflow_sources": [
"usgs-11023000"
],
"ingest_run_at": "2026-05-15T17:08:21Z"
}