57th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you. This forecast window is a tough one. We’re looking at sixteen days out, but honestly, there’s barely a ripple worth paddling for. The surf is small, the periods are short, and the quality is just… poor. If you’re jonesing for a wave, you might be better off finding a new hobby for a bit.

The pick of the litter, if you can call it that, is 57th Street. But it’s not saying much. It’s a sandbar, so it needs a certain swell to get going. The good news is it’s fairly consistent, and the water is running about 77°, which is a solid five and a half degrees warmer than normal for this time of year. That’s a real anomaly, so at least the water will feel great, even if the surf doesn’t.

We start with a real dud. Friday morning has a tiny 1ft of southeast swell, but with only 8 seconds of period, it’s lacking any push or shape. The wind is offshore, which is nice, but it’s not enough to make this worthwhile. Expect a long stretch of nothing before anything even gets close to rideable.

Saturday is more of the same – basically flat. Sunday sees a slight bump to 2ft but the period drops to 4-5 seconds. That’s just wind chop. It’s a complete mess and not worth your time.

The middle of the week offers a bit of a pulse. On Wednesday the 9th, we see the swell start to fill in a touch, reaching 4ft by the afternoon. It’s from the south with a period of 5 seconds, so it’ll be lumpy and disorganized. The wind is cross-shore and messy, so it would be a battle. This looks more interesting for the kite surfers than for us paddle guys.

Thursday the 10th brings the strongest winds of the period, a fresh 19 mph breeze from the northwest. It’s offshore, and it cleans up that 3ft of south swell. It will be clean, but it’s still just a weak, short-period swell. Maybe a couple of closeouts for the desperate.

Then we hit a lull again. For several days after that, there’s just nothing on the table. Tiny waves, windy conditions, and no quality. It’s a grim stretch.

The next slightly interesting bit arrives on Monday, September 14th. We see 3ft of southwest swell with a 5-second period. The morning wind is light and cross-offshore from the west. It’s clean, but again, the swell is weak and the period is poor.

Moving into the final few days, the swell drops back down to ankle-biters. The standout note for the end of the week is the period on the 18th and 19th. It jumps up to 12 seconds, but the swell height is only 0.5ft. That is a long-period groundswell with absolutely no energy behind it. It’s a tease. It won’t break properly on a sandbar anyway. All show, no go.

So, bottom line: this is a blank run. There are no standouts, and no good surf options in this whole sixteen-day window. It’s more normal for this area than you’d think to have a stretch this poor. But don’t lose hope. The spot is fairly consistent overall, so it tends not to stay flat forever. Forecasts can change, so we’ll keep an eye on it. Until then, keep the board in the car, but don’t get too excited.

Rusty, out.

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