57th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s switch it up. Grab a coffee and listen up. Rusty here, and I’ve got to be straight with you – this run of the 16-day forecast for 57th Street is a tough one to write.

Look, the whole period is a bit of a write-off for paddle surfing. The data shows nothing but "poor surf conditions" for the entire stretch from now through mid-September. There’s no standout day, no hidden gem session. The swell is tiny for the most part – we’re looking at waves mostly below 2 ft, piddly little windswell junk. The combined wave energy is embarrassingly weak, barely cracking triple digits until the very end (the highest reading we get is 216 on September 15th, which is moderate energy at best). And even when a bit of energy shows up, the wind is nearly always cross, cross-on, or onshore, messing up what little shape there is.

Let’s walk through it. At the start on Monday, August 31st, you’ve got a tiny 1 ft swell from the SE with a short period of 8 seconds, choppy cross-on winds, and water temps running 77°F – which is much warmer than normal for this time of year. That warmth is a nice thought, but you can’t ride the temperature. That whole first week is just a graveyard of tiny surf and bad wind. By Thursday, September 3rd, the morning shows a slightly cleaner 3 ft wave with a light cross-off breeze from the SW, but the period is only 9 seconds and the energy is still only moderate (114). It's a "surfable but ordinary" condition – the only time the score even registers a 1 out of 10.

That "clean" window on the 3rd morning is the only real highlight, and even then, it’s hardly a highlight. After that, we slide back into the doldrums. We get a weird spike in swell around September 6th and 7th – 4 ft from the ENE, with a short period (7-8 seconds) and cross winds up to 16 mph. The energy climbs to 150 then 210, but the wind will turn it into a messy, choppy onshore slop. That’s not good surf; that’s a washing machine. It’s probably better suited for a kite.

The second half of the forecast, from September 8th through the 15th, is more of the same – small or mid-range swell, always with a crap wind direction. There’s a 4 ft, 8-second pulse on the 15th that brings solid energy (216), but it’s tied to gusty cross-shore winds. The whole thing has a very “don’t bother” energy to it.

Listen, I hate to say it, but if you’re not a kite surfer, there’s no reason to paddle out at 57th Street for the next 16 days. The forecasts can change, but right now, this is a blank stretch. Keep the board in the car and the wax in the cupboard.

Rusty.

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