A massive, clean swell rolled into the beaches of Avon. Even though the sky was bright and the weather felt calm on the sand, the ocean was putting on a serious show.
The heavy surf was being pushed in by Tropical Storm Philippe, which was tracking hundreds of miles offshore past Bermuda and transforming into a large post-tropical low pressure system. While the center of the storm stayed far out to sea, its broad wind field sent long-period energy straight across the Atlantic toward the Outer Banks. At the same time, a cold front pushed off the mainland, setting up steady offshore winds that groomed the wave faces and kept the surf clean and towering instead of turning into a blown-out mess.
Surfers were out in full force, paddling through to take advantage of the clean faces and hollow sections.
