Galveston Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: the next 16 days for Galveston are a total write-off. There’s nothing to get excited about. The entire forecast period is filled with tiny, gutless swell, and the wave energy never gets off the ground. We’re looking at a long, flat gap from now until the end of the forecast window.

The only spot on the radar is Galveston, a breakwater setup that’s inconsistent and exposed. It needs a solid SE swell to work, and we just aren’t getting one. The water temp is sitting at 87°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, but that’s about the only thing worth noting.

Let’s run through the misery. Saturday morning, the 5th, we’ve got a tiny 0.7ft swell from the south with a period of just 4 seconds – that’s pure wind chop, period. Combined energy is a measly 1. The wind is light offshore from the north, so the surface is clean, but there’s nothing to ride. That afternoon, the wind swings ESE at 6 mph, making it cross-on, and it’s still just 0.7ft.

Sunday the 6th is completely flat. Glassy in the morning with no wind, but zero swell. Monday the 7th offers a 0.7ft SSW swell with a 3-second period and a cross-offshore wind from the west – clean, but again, nothing to work with, energy of 2.

Tuesday the 8th is more of the same: 0.7ft S swell with a 3-second period, light cross-shore wind. Energy is 2. The afternoons are all onshore, usually from the SE at 9 mph, messing up the surface.

We get a slight bump on Wednesday the 9th with a 1ft SSE swell, but the period is still short at 4 seconds. Energy creeps up to 5. The wind is cross-on in the morning from the south at 6 mph, and by the afternoon it’s a solid onshore from the SE at 12 mph. Not good.

Thursday the 10th is the same 1ft SSE swell, period of 6 seconds, energy at 19 in the morning. The wind is cross-on from the SW at 9 mph, making it fairly choppy. By the afternoon, the onshore wind is howling at 12 mph from the south, and the energy gets to 32, but it’s still a messy, weak wave.

Friday the 11th has a 1ft SE swell with a 6-second period, and a clean cross-offshore wind from the west at 9 mph in the morning. Energy is 14. But it’s just too small to bother with.

From Saturday the 12th all the way through to Sunday the 20th, the pattern holds. The swell never gets above 3ft, and that one instance on Monday the 14th afternoon – a 3ft SSE swell with a 5-second period and energy of 51 – is the biggest we see. But the wind is cross-on from the SE at 9 mph, making it choppy. That’s a weak, short-period, onshore mess. Not worth a paddle.

The rest of the days are a blur of 0.3ft to 2ft swells, with periods between 3 and 8 seconds. The combined energy rarely breaks 30. We get a few pockets of clean conditions, like a glassy morning on Saturday the 19th with a 0.3ft easterly swell, but there’s simply no wave to ride.

Honestly, this is a classic Galveston flat spell. If you’re looking for a paddle, you’re better off on a flat day. The surf is a bust. Don’t bother getting the board wet.

Rusty.

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