56th St Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what the next couple of weeks are serving up for 56th St. Gotta be straight with you – it's a pretty frustrating stretch ahead. There are a lot of days with poor conditions and not a whole lot of quality on the table. The surf stays small, almost entirely below chest-high, and the wind just won't play nice most of the time. We're looking at a long, quiet run before anything even starts to look interesting.

The water temperature is sitting at about 67°, which is a touch warmer than the long-term average for this time of year, so you won't need a thick suit, at least.

We kick off on Sunday the 12th of July, and honestly, there's nothing worth paddling out for. That sets the tone for a solid week. For the next several days, from the 12th right through to the 17th, we've got tiny, poor surf coupled with cross-onshore winds. Forget it. The combined wave energy is weak to moderate, hitting about 324 on the Sunday, dipping down to as low as 135 by Friday afternoon. It's just messy.

Things start to *look* a bit more interesting around Saturday the 18th, but it's still not good. The morning shows a bit of a bump with a 2ft swell but a very long period of 18 seconds from the southwest. The combined energy shoots up to 674, which is moderate. However, with the cross-onshore wind, it stays marginal at best. The afternoon sees the swell bump to 4ft, but the onshore wind picks up, keeping it chopped out.

The standout – if you can call it that – comes a bit later. Check out Thursday the 23rd of July. We've got a 5ft swell rolling in from the south with a 13-second period. That's a solid head-high plus, and the combined energy is strong, clocking in at 832. Now, the catch: that sized swell at this spot, with a 13-second period, might be a handful for beginners. It's pushing into the "expert-only" territory. The morning shows light cross-onshore winds from the WSW, which is the best we're going to see. It's still not perfect, but it's the most energy of the whole period. Afternoon gets chopped up again.

Before that, Wednesday the 22nd shows some potential in the afternoon with a 4ft south swell and a very high combined energy of 986, but with onshore wind, it's just a messy, grumpy-looking ocean.

So here's the bottom line: the first week is a total write-off. There's a gap of almost no decent surf from the 12th all the way to the 22nd. The best bet is likely the morning of Thursday the 23rd of July for the biggest swell we'll see, but don't expect perfection. The wind is just never fully on our side, and this spot is sheltered from that SW swell direction which is the only real juice we get. For the rest of the period into the 27th, we're back to small, marginal junk. Keep the board in the car, but maybe don't rush.

Rusty.

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