Cape Mendocino Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what Cape Mendocino has in store for us over the next couple of weeks. I gotta be straight with you—it's a tough stretch ahead. There are some promising signals way out there, but for the immediate future, we're in a bit of a dry spell.

The water temp is sitting around 57°, which is about normal for this time of year, so no surprises there.

Right now and for the next several days, it's pretty grim. We're looking at a run of poor surf conditions all the way from Sunday the 23rd of August through to the end of the month. The winds are mostly cross or cross-onshore, often fresh, and they're just chopping everything up. There are some small swells running, but nothing that's worth paddling out for. The energy is mostly weak to moderate at best (332 to 819), and the quality just isn't there.

Into the first week of September, things start to look a little more interesting, but it's still marginal. On Wednesday the 2nd of September, we see a shift with a WNW swell around 5ft to 5ft, but the period is short at 8 to 9 seconds, and winds are still cross-shore. The energy is moderate (509 to 568), but it's not clean enough to get excited about.

Now, there is a bit of a standout window starting to shape up around Thursday the 3rd and Friday the 4th of September. Thursday morning sees a light cross-onshore breeze with a 3ft SW swell carrying a long 19-second period. The energy is moderate to strong (876 to 938). This long-period groundswell could offer some good shape, but with that slight onshore wind, it won't be perfect. Friday morning the 4th gets a bit better—a 4ft SSW swell, still a long 18-second period, and the wind is a light cross-shore. The energy is strong (1034). For an exposed spot like Cape Mendocino, this is the best we're likely to see. The break is fairly consistent, but expect it to be a bit more lined-up due to that long period.

The weekend of the 5th and 6th of September shows a mixed bag, with some moderate energy and a few marginal calls, but the wind stays messy. By Monday the 7th, the winds pick up again and we're back to lumpy conditions. The best bet in this whole 16-day run is probably the Friday morning of the 4th of September. It's not a classic, but it's the closest thing to a clean, lined-up wave we've got on the horizon. Remember, that's over a week away, so treat it as a promising possibility rather than a sure thing.

This is Rusty, signing off.

Read more