47th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s break it down. Look, this 16-day stretch at 47th Street (Virginia Beach) is a bummer—there’s almost no swell worth paddling for, and the conditions just don’t give us a proper session. We’re staring at a long, flat spell with tiny waves and poor surf quality, so don’t get excited. There aren’t any true standouts here—just a few moments where the water goes glassy but the swell is barely a ripple. Let me walk you through it.

Starting Monday the 24th of August, it’s real small. The morning shows 1ft of southeast swell at 12 seconds—a long period but no power—combined energy is only 23, real weak. Winds are offshore from the WSW at 6 mph, so the water is clean, but the surf is poor. That carries through the afternoon and all of Tuesday the 25th, still 1ft, even with offshore wind. Wednesday the 26th gets a tiny bump to 1ft, but wind swings cross-onshore from the SSE, making it messy. Thursday the 27th has a risk of thunderstorms and cross-shore winds around 12 mph, with the swell creeping to 2ft, but it’s still poor and choppy. Friday the 28th offers a little clean surf in the morning with cross-offshore wind, but it’s just 2ft from the SE at 8 seconds—weak and short-period.

Then we hit a real dead zone. From Saturday the 29th through Monday the 31st, the swell sinks to 0.3–0.7ft at times, with long periods of 18–19 seconds but no height—combined energy in the 20s and 30s, absolutely flat. Tuesday the 1st of September finally shows a little pulse—1ft SE swell at 15 seconds, energy hits 91—but wind is onshore from the ESE in the morning, and surf is still poor. The afternoon of the 1st is the first time the files call it “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions” (score 1/10), with clean cross-offshore breeze from the SSW at 6 mph. Still, 1ft is barely rideable.

From there, it gets worse again. Wednesday the 2nd through the 6th of September sees stronger onshore and cross-onshore winds from the NE and ENE, gusting up to 25 mph, and the swell climbs to 3–5ft—but it’s all wind-driven, short-period junk with combined energy jumping to 249–421 (moderate to strong energy), but the wind ruins it completely. These are messy, lumpy, choppy conditions—honestly looks more like a kiteboarding setup than a paddling wave. The highlight of the whole 16 days might be Monday the 7th of September morning: 3ft SE swell at 9 seconds with gentle cross-shore breeze, but the real standout is the afternoon of the 7th where it goes glassy—0 mph wind from the ENE, with 3ft ESE swell at 10 seconds and combined energy of 183. That’s the cleanest the water gets, but the swell is still small and weak for 47th Street. Tuesday the 8th fades again to 2ft with clean cross-offshore wind, but it’s downhill from there.

Water temperature on the 24th is 77°F, which is 4°F above normal for this time of year—much warmer than usual, so you won’t need a wetsuit. That anomaly holds for the whole window.

Honestly, the best bet is the afternoon of Monday the 7th of September if you’re desperate for a glassy, tiny wave session. But there’s no real stand-out swell or quality in this whole 16-day outlook. For a spot like 47th Street that’s fairly consistent, this is a flat, poor run—but it tends not to stay poor for long, and forecasts can change.

Rusty

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