Does not always have to be S,SW direction. And I did mention spots or pockets. Mega high tide would have made epic cuts. Still going to be good in some areas. Supposed to be 8-12' in your area Tom and you aren't excited. You won't even drive down to the beach and look. So what does it matter... Surf and remnants should last 4 or 5 days. I'm geeked up !
Kob, In my approaching-40-yrs. of beach storm erosion, I'm the first to admit that my standards have become picky. I spent many many years "rushing to the beach" after each sprinkle of rain, and any wind or surfer report. And perpetually asked myself, after each lame event : "What were/are the ingredients involved ? "
Bear in mind that I've seen events where you can spend 3 hrs, in an area no bigger than your living room, and never lack for signals to choose from (multiple coins in each basket). So I have admittedly gotten "picky".
A buddy of mine was out yesterday at one of our local beaches, and got 175 coins, and a single 2.2 gram 10k gold ring . But he is VERY SKILLED. And .... the average person in the same zone, would have gotten perhaps 60 to 70 coins . And both he and I would agree that .... it was more or less "random". Thus ... not a newsworthy event.
Perhaps So. CA is different.
As for the "8 to 12" : In my area, is going to be for the W and NW facing beaches. And those type heights , for NW facing beaches, are very normative. Ie.: the N and NW facing beaches are acclimated to those heights. Hence we typically wait for 15 ft or better, combined with 5.5 ft or better high tides, for our N to NW facing beaches.
As for the potential "reverberation" (ie.: "wrap-around") to affect SW facing beaches : Yes : We still take a curious look at our SW facing beaches (Santa Cruz main beach, in particular), following severe NW swells. But any erosion , after NW events there, will be subtle. And all clad. Nothing that I'd drive an hour to get to. So we usually wait for multiple-days of S to SW swells to really start studying our SW beaches. But as I say, that's just me, d/t I'm spoiled.
As to the "4 or 5 days", after today, you guys are bathed in a series of calm seas. Not sure what surfer /mariner sites you are looking at. Here's some links I'm using :
https://cdip.ucsd.edu/recent/model_images/socal_now.png
Notice on this one, you can actually see the color impacts, of NW. Ie.: how Santa Barbara (pt conception) to the north will "shadow" you, from NW direction. Also the channel Island "shadows". Contrast to if it was from the S to SW, you can see that your beaches are left un-protected.
http://cdip.ucsd.edu/m/forecast/
This is a forward looking model of the same thing. You can slow it down and click on individual hour-/day markers.