Galveston-61st Street Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here for the Galveston-61st Street Pier forecast. I’ll be honest – this is a rough one. We’re looking at a full 16-day stretch, but there’s a big gap right from the start: Wednesday the 22nd of July all the way through to Thursday the 6th of August. Every single session comes back as "poor surf conditions." There’s no real standout day. No hidden gem. Just flat, onshore, or wind-chopped conditions with nothing to ride.

Wednesday morning the 22nd of July, we’ve got a tiny 0.3 ft swell out of the SSW with a period of 4 seconds. Combined wave energy is only 6 – that’s weak. Wind is WNW at 12 mph cross-offshore, so the surface is clean, but there’s no wave to surf. Water temp is 86°, about 1° above average – nothing unusual there.

Wednesday afternoon the 22nd, the swell edges up to 0.4 ft from the SSW, but wind turns SW at 16 mph cross-on – choppy. No improvement. Thursday the 23rd, morning with a risk of t-storms and NNE wind at 16 mph cross-off, still only 0.4 ft, period 5 seconds. By afternoon, 1.0 ft from the SSW, period 6 seconds, onshore SSE wind at 9 mph. Energy climbs to 111 – moderate – but wind kills it. Still poor.

Friday the 24th and Saturday the 25th – onshore winds from the SSE, swell 0.5 to 0.8 ft, period 5 seconds, energy 25 to 33. Sunday the 26th, cross-on from the S at 6 to 9 mph, tiny 0.4 to 0.5 ft, energy as low as 7. Still poor. Monday the 27th through Wednesday the 29th of July – cross-on SW or SSW winds 12 to 16 mph, 0.4 to 0.6 ft, period 4 to 5 seconds, energy 10 to 19 – all weak. Thursday the 30th and Friday the 31st – same story, onshore or cross-on, 0.5 to 0.6 ft, energy 13 to 24. Not worth it.

Saturday the 1st of August – cross-shore winds SW 16 mph in the morning, then fresh cross-on SSW at 22 mph in the afternoon, swell 0.7 to 0.8 ft, energy 44. Still poor. Sunday the 2nd of August morning has the biggest swell of the whole run – 1 ft from the SSW, period 5 seconds, energy 108 – moderate – but cross-shore wind WSW at 12 mph. Still classed as poor. Monday the 3rd of August morning shows 0.9 ft from the SSW, light cross-on, energy 74 – still poor. From there, tiny 0.6 to 0.7 ft all the way through Thursday the 6th of August.

Honestly, this break is fairly consistent but quality is nonexistent. No groundswell – period never reaches even 7 seconds. Crowds are "sometimes" an issue, but I doubt anyone’s out there with conditions this bad. With the wind and tiny swell, if you were looking to get on the water, this setup is more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. For now, save your energy – there’s nothing worth paddling out for.

Rusty.

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