Cape Mendocino Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Second Forecast (Imperial)

G'day, Rusty here. Look, I'm gonna level with you – the next 16 days at Cape Mendocino are a tough watch. We're looking at a long stretch of poor to marginal conditions, with hardly anything that'll get the heart racing. The water's sitting at a chilly 52°F thanks to a temperature anomaly of 5°F colder than normal, so you'll want a thick wetsuit if you're even thinking about paddling out.

The first few days, from Tuesday the 11th of August right through to Thursday the 13th, are a write-off. Small, weak swell around 2ft to 2ft from the SSW with a moderate cross-shore wind and combined energy barely cracking 200 to 270. It's just messy and weak. Not worth your time.

Things try to get a bit more interesting on Thursday afternoon, the 13th, when the swell jumps up to 6ft from the NW, but the period drops to a short 8 seconds and the combined energy climbs to 621 – moderate, but it's a lumpy, disorganised mess with a moderate cross-shore wind. The surf quality is marginal at best, and with that short period, it's gonna be a bumpy, closed-out affair. Only for the keenest of experts.

Friday the 14th offers a similar story with 5ft NW swell, but the period is even shorter at 7 seconds and the energy is up at 662. That's a lot of water moving around, but with a cross-onshore wind, it's choppy. Honestly, this setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

From Saturday the 15th right through to the end of the forecast on Wednesday the 26th, the outlook is grim. We're back to small, weak swells, mostly in the 2ft to 4ft range from the SSW, with the occasional WNW or SW pulse. The winds are predominantly cross-shore or cross-onshore, and the combined energy fluctuates but never delivers any real quality. The best we get is a marginal score of 2 out of 10 on Sunday the 16th afternoon and again on Wednesday the 19th afternoon, with a 4ft and 3ft SSW swell and a gentle cross-shore breeze, but it's still not clean or powerful.

To be honest, there's no standout session in this whole 16-day window. The swell is too small, the winds are unfavourable, and the conditions are consistently poor. If you're desperate, the later afternoons around Sunday the 16th and Wednesday the 19th are the least bad, but don't expect much. It's a tough run for Cape Mendocino.

Rusty out.

Read more