81st Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s talk about the next couple of weeks. To be straight with you, the surf window is looking pretty bleak for a while. I’m looking at a stretch of days where you’d be better off doing anything else. We’re going to have a long gap with no real waves on offer.

The first chance of anything rideable doesn’t pop up until the morning of September 16th. But even then, it’s not going to get your heart racing. We’re looking at ankle-biters. For the whole period, the swell energy is weak, mostly with values in the low teens to forties, which is nothing to write home about.

The water is much warmer than normal for this time of year, coming in at 81°F on that first Tuesday. That’s about 5°F above average, so it’s definitely noticeable, but the lack of swell is the main story.

Now, the good word for the 16th: the morning is looking like your best bet. There’s a 2ft swell from the east with a 6-second period, and what’s key is the light offshore wind from the WSW. It’s small, but it could be clean. That’s about the only time you’ll see anything approaching surfable conditions in the first week.

Before that, from the 8th to the 15th, it’s just a mess. A lot of cross-shore and onshore wind, with tiny, jumbled waves. Thursday the 11th has a brief offshore, but the swell is only 0.7ft, so it’s nothing.

The second week is still not much better, but there’s a bit of a pulse around the 21st into the 22nd. We see the energy jump up a little, getting into the 70s and 80s, with a slightly better 3ft swell. The period is still short, around 7-8 seconds, which means it’s windswell, not groundswell. But it’s onshore, with a fresh breeze, so it’s going to be lumpy and messy. The 23rd shows a similar story, with a wall-to-wall cross-onshore wind, so I wouldn’t get too excited.

Through it all, you have to remember this is a beach break setup. When it’s small and onshore, it’s going to be a close-out. If you’re a kitesurfer, you might have some fun with the conditions, but for paddle surfing, it’s a no-go.

The long-range stuff, the 21st and beyond, has a bit more push, but it’s far out, so I wouldn’t plan my life around it. The best of the bunch, by a long shot, is the morning of the 16th. Get out there early if you’re desperate, because otherwise, it’s a whole lot of nothing.

Stay salty.

Rusty

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