56th St Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin’ at 56th St over the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, it’s a bit of a dry spell to start. The water is sitting at 71° right now, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year – feels like a bathtub, but the waves just aren’t cooperating. The first few days are a real struggle. From Thursday afternoon through the weekend, we’re looking at tiny, weak, onshore slop. Swell heights are barely scraping 3 ft, and with a cross-onshore or straight onshore wind, it’s just messy and choppy. The combined energy is weak, sitting around 358 (Thursday afternoon) to 751 (Sunday morning), and the wave comment says it all: poor surf conditions. Not worth paddling out for.

Monday the 27th and Tuesday the 28th show a bit of a pulse, with swell heights getting up to 4 ft from the SSW, but the wind is still on it, and the period is short (17-19 seconds is okay, but the local wind ruins it). The energy is moderate (around 888), but the forecast calls it marginal at best. You’d be fighting a light onshore breeze for a lumpy wave.

The first real standout, and the only one I’d get excited about, is Friday, August 1st. We’ve got some solid SSW swell pushing in. The morning of the 1st shows 5 ft from the SSE with a period of 14 seconds, and the combined energy jumps up to 1069 – that’s strong wave energy. It’s a bit short-period, but the size is there. The wind is light and onshore, so it won’t be glassy, but it’s rideable. The afternoon of the 1st gets even better in size: 6 ft from the S, though the wind turns cross-on. Still, that’s the biggest swell of the window. This is definitely the best option for an intermediate surfer who wants something with a bit of push. It’s a sheltered spot, so it’ll handle that S swell okay, but it’s not blowing offshore.

After that peak, things drop off fast. The 2nd of August is still 4 ft, but the period drops to 11 seconds and the energy tanks to 421. From the 3rd of August onward, it’s dead. We’re talking 1 ft to 2 ft, weak energy in the 100s, and cross-on winds. Total flat spell.

So, the call is: one decent day on the 31st of July through the 1st of August, with the 1st being the pick. After that, you’re waiting for a miracle. The break is very consistent, so it’s not that the spot is fickle – the ocean just isn’t giving us anything. For a spot that’s usually pumping, this is a rough run.

Rusty.

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