Cape Mendocino Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right on, let's get into it. This is Rusty, and I'm looking at the Cape Mendocino stretch for the next couple of weeks. Now, I gotta be straight with you—the start here is a bit of a bummer. We've got a run of poor conditions stretching from Thursday, the 9th, all the way through to Tuesday, the 14th. That's a solid six days of nothing to get excited about. The wind is locked in from the north, blowing cross-shore and keeping the ocean messy with lumpy cross-chop. The wave energy is weak to moderate (189 to 749), and the swell is all over the place but just not cooperating. The water's sitting at a cold 51°F, which is a massive 5°F colder than normal for this time of year—so you'll want a thick hood.

Come Wednesday, the 15th, and Thursday the 16th, it’s still not looking good. The waves get a little bigger—up to 8 ft on Thursday afternoon with a short period (8 seconds) out of the northwest—but that wind is still ripping at 19 mph, so it's just going to be a lumpy, blown-out mess. The energy jumps up to 1233, but without the right wind, it's no good for paddling.

Now, let's talk about the real standout. You want to circle Sunday, July 19th on your calendar. That morning, it's looking glassy. The wind goes calm, 0 mph, and the surface will be flat as a mirror. We'll see a clean 3 ft swell rolling in from the WNW with a solid 15-second period, and the wave energy is moderate at 473. But the real beauty is the afternoon—a 3 ft groundswell from the southwest, 17-second period, and light winds out of the WSW at just 3 mph. The wave energy jumps to 690. Everything lines up for really clean, quality waves at Cape Mendocino. The crowds are listed as "sometimes," so you might have a few friends out, but conditions this good are worth sharing. This is the best on offer by a long shot.

Things get a bit more uncertain after that. Monday, July 20th, brings some bigger energy—a 4 ft SSE swell with a very long 19-second period pushes the energy to 1332—but the wind is light and onshore in the morning, and then cross-onshore in the afternoon, so it might not be as clean. Tuesday the 21st sees bigger swell at 6 ft from the south, but that north wind picks back up to 12-16 mph, putting a cross-chop on it. The wave energy is strong (1434), but with that wind, it's not going to be the same quality as Sunday.

Towards the end of the outlook, on Friday, July 24th, we get a 6 ft swell from the NW with an 8-second period, but the wind is light and cross-onshore. It’s marginal. If you have to go out, the smart money is all on that Sunday, the 19th. It’s the cleanest window we’ve got.

Rusty

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