56th St Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s in store for us at 56th Street over the next couple of weeks. To be straight with you, there’s a fair bit of waiting involved before things get any good.

Right now, we're in a dry spell. There’s just nothing doing. The water’s sitting at a balmy 76.1°F – that’s much warmer than usual for early September, so the ocean feels more like a bath than the Atlantic. But that’s about the only good thing. For the first several days, from Wednesday the 2nd right through till Friday the 4th, it’s small, messy, and windy. You’re looking at weak knee-high slop with cross-onshore winds making it choppy. Not worth paddling out.

The first faint hope shows up on Saturday the 5th. Saturday morning is still pretty marginal, but by the afternoon things start to turn. A solid SW groundswell fills in, hitting 5 ft from the south with a clean cross-offshore breeze from the NNW. The combined energy jumps to 1444, so there’s some proper push behind it. That afternoon looks like the first decent session of the forecast.

Sunday the 6th keeps the run going. Morning sees 5.6 ft S swell with light N winds, clean and lined up. By the afternoon it’s pushing 6.2 ft, still from the south, with a light NW cross-off. The wave energy is strong, and those cross-off winds will keep the faces clean. This stretch from Saturday afternoon through Sunday is the best we’ve got – if you can only get out once, make it Sunday the 6th.

But the real standout? That’s Monday the 7th. Early morning, 7.2 ft of S swell rolls in, with a period of 14 seconds, and the wind goes glassy. Glassy. From the SW at just 3 mph. The water will be like a mirror, and the swell energy is huge at 1949. That’s a session for the intermediate crew who know what they’re doing – it’s a bit much for beginners at that size, but anyone comfortable in overhead surf is going to have a field day. After that, Monday afternoon gets a little wonky as the wind swings cross-shore, so the morning window is the golden ticket.

From Tuesday the 8th onward, it’s a slow fade. The swell drops off steadily, the winds turn cross-onshore or straight choppy, and by Wednesday the 9th we’re back to small, poor surf. There’s a bit of a pulse Thursday the 10th with a long-period 17-second SW swell, but the cross-onshore wind at 12 mph ruins it – choppy and blown out. Not worth the paddle.

From there, it’s a long, quiet stretch. Friday the 11th through to Wednesday the 16th is just tiny dribble – knee-to-waist high at best, onshore winds, and energy readings dropping into the low hundreds. There’s a weird little spike in period on Thursday the 17th with a 23-second groundswell, but the swell height is only 1 ft, so it’s a ghost. Nothing to ride.

So, to sum it up: the best windows are Saturday the 5th afternoon, all day Sunday the 6th, and especially Monday the 7th morning. After that, it’s a two-week fade. Crowds? 56th Street can get busy, and with this being the only game in town for a while, expect company on those good days.

Ride safe.

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