4 Mile Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get real about the next couple of weeks. It is not looking like a classic run for 4 Mile. We’ve got a long stretch of onshore and cross-shore winds messing up what little swell is actually heading our way. The energy’s there in the water, but the quality is just not lining up for a proper session for quite a while.

The first real chance to even think about getting wet won’t be until Saturday, August 30th. That’s a long wait, over a week and a half of choppy, lumpy conditions where the swell is small and the wind is just tearing it apart. The good news is the water is running at 61°F, which is a touch warmer than usual for this time of year, so you won’t be freezing while you’re struggling to find a clean one.

The standout window, and the only one I’d truly circle on the calendar, is that Saturday morning on August 30th. We’ve got a 4ft SSW swell with a 16-second period, and the wind finally drops out to a light onshore from the SW. It’s not offshore, but it’s as close to clean as we’re going to get. The combined energy is reading 846, which is strong. The sets will be fat and lined up, but it’s still only a marginal call. Sunday the 31st also hangs in there with a similar SSW swell, but that wind is more light and variable. Still, these are the only two windows where the surf has any chance of actually holding shape. Everything before that is a write-off.

Further out, into the first few days of September, there’s a push of shorter-period WNW windswell, but that’s not going to be doing 4 Mile any favors. This is a spot that needs that long-period SSW groundswell, not choppy local wind waves. It will just be a mess.

If you’re desperate before then and the wind is howling from the NW with that cross-chop, honestly, it looks more interesting for a kite than a surfboard.

So, hold tight. The waiting game is the name of it. The potential is there for the very end of the month, but it’s a long-range call, so don’t book the day off work just yet. It’s promising, but we need a bit of luck.

There’s a long gap of nothing good before that, a good ten days of mush. But that’s the nature of this place sometimes. It never stays poor forever, and a few days can change everything.

Keep the faith.

Rusty.

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