Broadway Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you about Broadway. I’ve looked over the next 16 days and honestly, it’s a tough stretch. The forecast is full of tiny, weak swell and onshore wind, so don’t go getting your hopes up for anything special.

The pattern is flat and frustrated. For the first eleven days, from Thursday the 9th of July right through to the 19th, the swell is barely a ripple. We’re talking about waves that are mostly 0.7 ft to 2 ft, with a weak combined wave energy that barely cracks 30 or 40 (think weak energy, like 32 to 48). The periods are short and choppy, mostly between 5 and 8 seconds, so there’s no power behind them. The winds are a mess too – mostly cross-offshore or onshore, with a few glassy moments on Saturday afternoon the 11th and Tuesday morning the 14th, but with no swell to work with, it’s just a flat, clean lake. The water temperature is a notable 76°F, which is 4°F warmer than usual for this time of year, so it’s much warmer than normal, but that doesn’t help the surf.

After that long flat spell, we get a bit of a pulse around the 20th and 21st. On Monday the 20th, the swell tries to pick up, hitting 3 ft to 3 ft, but the period drops to a dismal 4 seconds. That’s just wind chop, not surfable waves. The combined energy is still low at 23 to 37 (weak). The real standout, if you can call it that, comes on Tuesday the 21st. The swell jumps to 6 ft from the SSE, with a period of 8 seconds, and the combined energy hits 402 (strong wave energy). That’s the only time in the whole window we see proper size. But here’s the kicker: the wind is howling onshore from the SSE at 9 to 19 mph, and the surf is rated poor. For a beach break like Broadway, that’s going to be a messy, blown-out wall of whitewater. At 6 ft, it’s getting too big for beginners, and with that onshore wind, it’s only for the hardcore crew. The swell direction is SSE, but the optimum for the spot is SE, so it’s not quite lined up either.

If you’re a kite surfer, that Tuesday the 21st might be worth a look, because the wind and size will be there, but for paddle surfing, it’s a no-go. The rest of the window is a write-off.

So, the bottom line: there are no good surf options here in the 16-day window. The flat run is normal for the area, but it’s a long one. If you’re desperate, keep an eye on the forecasts, because it tends not to stay this poor for long.

Rusty.

Read more