57th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, checking in from your local stretch. It's been a while since we've had any real juice in the water, and looking at the charts for 57th Street, it's going to stay that way for a while. Don't get your hopes up.

We’re looking at a big, long flat spell. From today, Monday the 14th, all the way through to Saturday the 19th, it’s a complete write-off. We're talking tiny, wind-chopped dribble or just nothing at all. The water is unusually warm right now – a solid 3° warmer than average, like bath water. It feels weird, but there's no surf to enjoy it in.

Finally, on Sunday the 20th, we get a tiny pulse of life. A small SSW swell rolls in, pushing up to about 3 ft. It’s not much, and the period is a short, weak 6 seconds, so it’ll be soft and crumbly. The combined swell energy is weak, only (115). The morning looks the cleanest with a light cross-offshore breeze, but the afternoon gets wrecked by a strong 15 mph cross-shore. It’s surfable, but only just.

Then it turns ugly again. Monday the 21st and Tuesday the 22nd see a big jump in size, with swell hitting 6 ft to 7 ft from the east. Sounds good on paper, right? Wrong. The wind is howling onshore at 15-18 mph, making it a complete, lumpy, choppy mess. The wave energy is strong (520 on Tuesday morning), but it’s all wind-slop. This is strictly for the kite crew, not for paddle surfing.

The outlook finally gets a bit more interesting heading into the final week. Thursday the 24th morning cleans up nicely. A light cross-offshore wind from the west greets a 4 ft east swell. The period is a reasonable 9 seconds, giving it a bit of push with moderate energy (204). It’s not a standout, but it's the best we've seen in days.

Sunday the 27th looks like our best shot. We get a clean 4 ft to 4 ft swell from the ESE. The morning has a light cross-offshore, and the afternoon looks like it could turn absolutely glassy with a 3 mph offshore breeze. The swell period is a workable 8 seconds, and the energy is moderate (172). If the glass-off holds, that Sunday arvo session will be the pick of the fortnight for some clean, cruisy waves. It’s not firing, but it’s a chance to get wet without getting thrashed.

So, the honest truth: it’s a lean two weeks. Don't rush out for anything until that Sunday the 27th. Keep an eye on the sky, and maybe the following Monday the 28th morning could also be worth a look with a clean 3 ft from the ESE. But that’s it. We’ve had better runs, and we’ll have them again.

Rusty.

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