Cape Mendocino Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, breaking down the Cape Mendocino outlook.

First up, we got a slow start. Thursday’s got some northwest swell, 2.0m at 10 seconds, but the wind is light cross-onshore, putting a little ruffle on the surface. The combined energy is solid at 1284, but it’s just not clean. Friday morning is a bit bigger, 2.1m from the NW at 11 seconds, but still cross-shore wind, and it’s not clean enough to get pumped about.

Then Friday afternoon throws a curveball – the swell drops to 1.1m, but it’s from the SSW with a _very_ long period of 17 seconds. That’s proper groundswell, but the wind is light onshore and the quality is unknown. That long period stuff can be weird at a beach break, breaking too straight.

From Saturday the 5th all the way through to Wednesday the 16th, it’s a total write-off. The wind is howling from the north, sometimes over 30 km/h, and the swell is either tiny or chopped to bits. The scores are all poor. There’s a long stretch of nothing, honestly.

The only real chance comes late on Thursday the 17th. The morning has a 1.5m NW swell with a short 7-second period, but it’s marginal. The standout is Thursday afternoon: the swell is tiny at 0.7m, but it’s from the SSW with a _very_ long period of 21 seconds. That’s a proper groundswell. The wind goes light and variable, almost glassy. The combined energy is 625, which is moderate. That’s a clean, small-wave session for the experts.

If you’re an advanced surfer who can work a small, long-period wave, that Thursday afternoon is your only real window. Otherwise, it’s a long wait. The water temp is about average for the time of year, nothing unusual. For most of this period, the strong north wind and lumpy chop are better for kite surfing.

Keep an eye on that Thursday.

Rusty.

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