5th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get straight into it. To be honest, the next couple of weeks are looking pretty grim for 5th Street (the only spot on the radar here). The water temperature is sitting at 77°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so that’s something at least.

We’re starting off with a serious flat spell. From Monday, the 17th, right through most of the week, we’re stuck with tiny, weak slop. Swell heights are barely scraping 1 ft to 3 ft, and the combined wave energy is weak, often under 50 (48). The wind is mostly cross-off or cross-on, but the surf is just too small to bother with. The forecast calls it “poor surf conditions” day after day.

There’s a gap of several days here with nothing worth paddling out for. The only slight glimmer comes on Saturday, the 22nd, when we get a brief window of glassy conditions in the morning. Swell is still tiny at 1 ft, but the glassy surface could make it look pretty. Still, it’s tiny.

We finally see a bit of a pulse around Monday, the 25th, with swell picking up to 3 ft in the morning from the south, with a short period of 5 seconds. The energy is still weak (70). By Tuesday afternoon, the 26th, we get a bump to 5 ft, but the wind swings cross-onshore and the energy is moderate (182). The period is still short at 6 seconds, so it’s going to be messy and wind-affected.

The biggest swell of the outlook shows up on Friday, the 28th, with a 4 ft south-east swell, period of 13 seconds, and combined energy of 398, which is moderate. The wind is cross-off, so it might be clean, but the forecast calls it “marginal,” and I’d say that’s fair. The swell direction (SE) is not the optimum for 5th Street (which prefers SE), so it’s coming from the right direction, but with the size and period, it’s not going to be great. This is the only day that gets a score above zero, but it’s still not a standout.

The rest of the outlook into early September is more of the same: small, weak, and mostly onshore or cross-shore. Nothing really stands out as a good session. The setup here is a beach/jetty, and with the persistent onshore flow and short-period swell, it might actually be more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing for most of the period.

Bottom line: there’s really no good surf on offer in the next 16 days at 5th Street. A few days might be clean, but the swell is too small to do much with. The only day that even comes close to being worth a look is Friday, the 28th, but keep expectations low.

Rusty.

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