Emma Wood State Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, looking at the charts for the next couple of weeks. Gotta be honest with you, it’s looking like a flat spell for Emma Wood State Beach.

We’re looking at a long stretch of very small, weak conditions. The first recommendation for a surf comes on Friday the 28th of August, but it’s a tough start. The water is a notable 72°F, which is 8°F warmer than usual – much warmer than normal for this time of year. But the swell is a tiny 1ft from the SSW, with a very long period of 19 seconds. That kind of long-period groundswell, while full of energy (177), can be tricky on a beach and reef setup, often breaking too straight. And the wind is onshore light breeze from the SW, killing any chance of clean waves. Honestly, it’s a big fat zero for quality.

We go through the rest of Friday, all of Saturday the 29th, and Sunday the 30th with the same story. Swell bumps up to a tiny 2ft on Saturday and Sunday, but the period drops and the wind stays onshore or switches to a cross-onshore. The energy reading is weak to moderate (352 to 331), but the "poor surf conditions" tag says it all.

Monday the 31st through to Wednesday the 2nd of September is more of the same – 1ft to 2ft of swell, light onshore breezes, and scores of zero. The energy barely cracks 149 on the Wednesday morning. It’s a real struggle.

Thursday the 3rd of September offers a glimmer of 2ft from the SSW with a 12-second period and a light onshore wind. Still rated as poor.

Friday the 4th of September is the closest to a 'standout' in this whole period, and I use that term loosely. The morning sees a 2ft SSW swell with a very long 17-second period, a light air from the SW (basically glassy), and an energy reading of 325. It’s the only time we have a rating of "marginal" instead of "poor". The window is small, but if you’re desperate, that Friday morning before the wind swings west is your best shot.

After that, from Saturday the 5th of September all the way through to Saturday the 12th of September, we’re back to zero-rated days. Swell stays between 1ft and 2ft, winds are either onshore, cross-onshore, or even cross-shore at one point. The energy fluctuates but never gets strong, topping out at 260 on the 10th. The setup looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer on most of those afternoons.

To sum it up: there’s a massive gap of poor-to-no surf. The only thing worth paddling for is a very marginal window on the morning of Friday the 4th of September. Don’t get your hopes up.

- Rusty

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