48th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let's get to it.

Where to start? It’s looking like a pretty quiet start for the next few days. There's a tiny bit of knee-high swell in the water, but the conditions are just ordinary. The real issue is the surfable waves are just too small to get excited about on Monday the 26th of August. There might be a rideable wave here or there, but you're really just fighting the conditions for no reward.

The water temperature is sitting around 78°, which feels a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so you can get away with a thinner suit if you're paddling out. But honestly, there’s nothing worth paddling out for yet.

We have a pretty big gap in the action. From Tuesday the 27th of August all the way through to the 2nd of September, the swell stays small, often below 2 ft, and the winds just chop things up. There’s a bit more energy building from the 1st of September, with the combined energy hitting 164, but it’s still coming in from the ESE and the conditions just aren't coming together for a proper session.

Now, things get interesting on Thursday, the 3rd of September. There’s a big pulse of ENE swell pushing the wave face up to 8 ft, with a combined energy reading of 1231 – that’s a lot of power. This is a big, raw swell with a period of only 8 seconds, which means it will be full of energy but a bit lumpy and fat. The wind is light and onshore from the east, so it's not going to be clean, and the quality is marginal at best.

The next couple of days, the 4th and 5th of September, still have solid swell in the 7 ft to 8 ft range, with combined energy in the high 700s to 900s. But the wind is going to be howling out of the north at 18-25 mph, so while the swell is there, the conditions will be messy and choppy. This is really only for the experts looking for a power session, not a clean ride.

The standout window is shaping up for the morning of Monday the 7th of September. We’ve got clean, chest-high waves at 3 ft from the east with a 8-second period, but the absolute game-changer here is the glassy, zero-wind conditions. The combined energy is a solid 214, so there's plenty of push, and with offshore glass, the waves at 48th Street will be clean and peeling. This is the best the whole forecast has to offer, no question. The break is consistent and faces the optimum SE swell direction for the incoming ESE swell, meaning it will be lined up nicely. Expect crowds to be a problem though, as it is often busy, but for these waves, it might be worth the squeeze.

After that little gem, the swell drops off fast, fading to 2 ft by Tuesday the 8th, so don't sleep on that Monday morning window. Overall, the entire forecast is a long wait for one really good morning.

Rusty

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