48th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's take a look at what's cooking for 48th Street over the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, it's a pretty grim picture. We're looking at a solid run of tiny, weak surf for the first week and a half. The water temp is sitting at 78°F – that's a touch warmer than you'd expect for this time of year.

From Sunday the 9th right through to Saturday the 16th, it's a real struggle. The swell is barely a whisper, mostly under 3ft, and the energy is pitiful, with the combined energy reading under 100 (the highest in that stretch is only 49). It's a lot of small, short-period S and SSE swell, and the wind is often swinging around, making it tricky to find anything clean. A few glassy moments pop up, like Wednesday the 12th afternoon, but there's just no wave to ride. Expect a long, frustrating gap.

Now, things get a little more interesting on Monday the 17th. The swell picks up to 5ft from the S, and the energy jumps to 161, hitting 261 by the afternoon. The wind goes offshore with a WNW breeze, and the forecast says "expect good surf conditions". It's a short-lived window, but that Monday afternoon is your best bet for anything decent. The swell period is a short 6 seconds though, so it's not going to be the most powerful, shapey wave, but it'll be bigger than anything else we've seen.

The real standout, though, is Thursday the 20th. The morning is looking clean with a light W offshore wind, and the swell is 4ft from the SE with a period of 11 seconds. The combined energy is a solid 483 – that's a proper groundswell. This is the one to circle on the calendar. It's a long period swell, so expect better shaped waves with more push, but it might break a bit straight at the beach. The offshore wind will keep it glassy. The afternoon drops off a bit in size, but still clean with a gentle offshore breeze and energy of 202.

After that, the surf fades out again through the end of the period, with a few days of messy, onshore winds and poor quality.

So, the honest truth? For 48th Street, it's a lean two weeks. The standout is Thursday the 20th – that morning session is the one to chase. The Monday the 17th afternoon is a maybe, but it's a junior swell. The rest of the time, you're better off waxing your car or checking the tide pools.

Rusty.

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