Winter Storm Jonas two days in OBX
There's no ignoring a Surfline forecast for what was promising to become the "historical" winter storm of 2016.
Impossible to say no to swell charts that look this good.
Driving into Hatteras Island. The entrance to the East Coast's surf capital.
Reports of heavy snowfall, icy roads, and cold temperatures couldn't stop the four of us. We wanted our slice of the action so we packed it up and headed north. Daniel and Matthew Glenn along with Chauncey Robinson and I paid a visit to the Outer Banks on January 24th, 2016. We set out to the East Coast's most iconic surf destination with high hopes to score big barrels in a picturesque setting.
Walking up to the beach and seeing the mayhem wasn't exactly what we were looking for. We saw a lot of size and raw power which immediatley began squashing dreams of clean barreling peaks.
Florida boys playing in the snow. It could have been flat and we would have still been happy just to see that white stuff.
Matthew Glenn. Snow and Beach, its an exciting combination.
Monday was sort of a heart breaker. We drove around for hours and searched every break. Coffee, breakfast, coffee again... The surf was just too big, one problem the east coast rarely encounters. I know I was getting antsy, but with everyone telling me to just be patient the only thing to do was hold on and pray it was going to start cleaning up.
until then, play with snow.
Good Morning Hatteras.
The Frisco Pier.
There were possibilities everywhere, maybe if you were willing to take a risk or two.
Rip, Roaring, and Raging. Their were mind blowing moments to witness from the beach.
Every direction you looked you could see the potential behind the swell. Getting into position was going to be a whole different story.
Matthew Glenn.
The Glenn's.
and then it happened.
Monday afternoon the surf began to drop off and the winds began to do work on the swell lines. It calmed down a bit making the outer sand bars begin to fire. We took a good look at it and decided that the quarter mile plus paddle was going to be well worth the effort.
Day 1 Outer Sand Bar Fun.
Daniel Glenn. No lack of size on the outer bars.
Something about a Sand Bar.
Chauncey Robinson sitting on the shoulder of what I would call a very "angry wave"
Not as easy as it looks, if it looks easy at all. We were met with strong currents which kept us all separated and unable to produce much media from this session. Everyone got a few amazing waves, Daniel Glenn with the wave of the day, but you'll just have to take our word for it. However the session definitely got the adrenaline pumping and our morale was high. None of us could wait to see what we were in for next.
Hollow moments on Hatteras.
Matthew Glenn dishing out some fight on a grinding left.
Matthew Glenn dropping in.
"Bigger than it looks" Could be an understatement.
After drifting miles the walk back up the beach would at least un-thaw our feet.
Tuesday, January 26th, 2016.
With much smaller and cleaner conditions predicted we began our day early in town searching for any sand bar producing surf that could get us a shot.
Chauncey Robinson.
Exciting to see the sand bars firing off a few barrels. We were out there.
Kitty Hawk, NC on Dawn Patrol.
Two is better than one.
One..
Two...
Three.
Go.
Once this day got started it just kept getting better. The surf cleaned up nicely and the boys had at it.
Chauncey Robinson.
Daniel Glenn.
Chauncey Robinson.
Surf Checks and Coffee.
Daniel Glenn
Chauncey Robinson
Chauncey Robinson.
Matthew Glenn.
The water was a frigid being in the mid 40 degree range, but the air temp was a surprising 58 on Tuesday. It felt like Florida had followed us to the Outer banks.
Seals.
Daniel Glenn.
Charging into it.
Chauncey Robinson.
Daniel Glenn.
Matthew Glenn.
Matthew Glenn.
Daniel Glenn
Matthew Glenn
A morning well spent.
A morning well spent indeed. What had first looked like a possible disaster had cleaned up to produce classic East Coast barrels.
By Tuesday afternoon the surf had dropped and all our expectations had been met. With only one broken board and some sore muscles from being pounded in the shore break, we were all ready to call it off as a success.
A huge thank you goes out to Jared Jennings who opened up his home and helped us all get into the proper gear for the cold water. The hospitality of Hatteras is legendary.
Thank You Hatteras.
Daniel Glenn @glennings_ - Matthew Glenn @matthewdglenn
Chauncey Robinson @chaunchoo - Nathaniel Harrington @natehphoto