55th Street Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, I’m Rusty. Well, I’ll be straight with ya – we’ve got a real flat spell coming up here at 55th Street Pier. There’s no surf worth paddling out for in this whole 16-day window. Every single hourly reading over the next two and a half weeks comes back as “poor surf conditions.” That’s a long stretch of nothing, and it’s not just a day or two – it’s the full forecast period from now right through to September 19th.

Let’s have a look at what’s on offer. The water temperature is sittin’ at 77°, which is a whoppin’ 5° warmer than normal for this time of year – that’s a seriously unusual anomaly, so the water’s gonna feel like a warm bath, but there’s nothing to ride in it. Swell heights barely scrape 2 feet on the best days, and those are short-period wind swells of 4 to 6 seconds, with combined wave energy values as low as 3 to 70 – all weak stuff. Most days have cross-offshore or cross-on winds, but none of it matters when there’s no real energy in the water.

On Tuesday morning, September 8th, we get a little window of clean conditions with a light offshore breeze from the WSW at 3 mph, but the swell is only 1 foot from the east at 10 seconds – that’s a long period for such a tiny wave, and combined energy is just 20. It’s a total non-event.

There is literally no standout session. If you’re desperate for a paddle, maybe Monday September 14th has a clean, gentle offshore wind from the west at 9 mph, but again, it’s 1 foot of swell with energy at 15 – barely a ripple. The setup here is a beach and jetty, so with all this weak, short-period, onshore-affected junk, honestly, this looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, but even then it’s marginal.

Bottom line: the forecast is blank for the entire 16 days. That’s pretty normal for this area when there’s no solid swell source, so don’t freak out – forecasts can change, but as it stands, don’t bother waxing up.

– Rusty

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