Galveston-61st Street Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's be straight with you. Looking at the next couple of weeks for the Galveston area, and I gotta say, it’s a tough stretch for anyone wanting to get wet. We’ve got a long, flat spell on our hands. There are no proper surfable waves on the radar for the entire 16-day outlook. We’re looking at a blank run, which, for this stretch of coast, isn't all that unusual when the summer swells just don't show. Keep the board in the car, but don't hold your breath.

The window opens with poor surf. Thursday the 20th through to Monday the 24th, we’re looking at tiny, weak peaks – nothing over 1.3ft and the energy is just pathetic. We’re talking combined swell energies in the single digits (8, 7, 6), which is basically nothing. The mornings might have a little less wind, but it’s mostly cross-shore or cross-on, so it’s gonna be messy. The afternoons turn onshore and chop it right up. It’s not a surfing outlook; it’s a swimming outlook.

We get a slight bump in the swell direction around the 25th, but it's a tease. The swell height might touch 1.6ft to 2ft, and the energy climbs into the teens and twenties (13, 12, 23), but the period is a weak 4 seconds. That’s just wind slop, not groundswell. It's all poor surf. The wind stays a problem for most of it. Tuesday the 25th morning is the best of a bad bunch with a gentle cross-on, but the waves are still just ankle-biters.

The pattern holds into the end of August. We see a bit more energy on the 30th and 31st, with the combined readings getting up to 16 and 27, and waves maybe reaching 2.3ft to 2.6ft. But again, that 4-second period kills any hope of a real wave. It’s just lumpy, short-period chop. A light cross-shore wind on the morning of Sunday the 30th might clean it up a touch, but there’s just not enough push to do anything on.

As we roll into September, the energy fades back out. The 1st is more of the same – weak and onshore. Then things really shut down for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. The swell drops off a cliff. We're looking at 0.6ft to 1ft waves on the 4th with combined energy down to just 2. The only positive is that the winds go light offshore or cross-off in the mornings, so the water will be glassy, but a lake is glassy too. There is simply nothing to ride.

The long-range stuff, like the 31st, looks like it might have a touch more size, but with that short period, it’s not worth getting excited about. It’s promising but less certain, and honestly, with that quality, it's a pass. There are no standouts here. This entire setup looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer, especially in the afternoons when the seabreeze fills in. For the rest of us, it’s a good time to check your wax and wait for a better forecast, because forecasts can change. This flat spell can’t last forever.

Talk soon.

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