Hatteras Light House Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – the next 16 days at Hatteras Light House are a tough watch. We’re looking at a long stretch of flat to tiny, messy swell with hardly any quality windows. The water temp is sitting at 83°, which is about 2° warmer than usual for this time of year, so the ocean feels like a bath, but that’s about the only thing going for it.

We start off Thursday, July 9th, with a tiny 1ft swell from the SE, but a strong 22 mph cross-off wind in the afternoon kills any chance of a wave. Friday the 10th sees a slight bump to 3ft from the south, and the morning offers a 12 mph offshore wind, which is a positive. The period is a short 7 seconds though, so it’s weak and wonky, and the combined energy is only 75 – weak. It’s surfable but very ordinary.

Saturday the 11th is a carbon copy: 3ft south swell, 12 mph offshore in the morning, but again that short period means the waves are fat and unexciting. The energy hits 87, still weak. By the afternoon, the wind swings and the quality drops. Sunday the 12th has a bit more size at 4ft, but the period drops to 5 seconds and the wind is onshore – that’s a choppy, messy mess with energy at 112 (moderate), but not worth paddling for.

Monday the 13th and Tuesday the 14th bring onshore easterly winds and building energy (up to 171 on Tuesday morning), but with the wind ruining it and the swell direction straight onshore, the conditions are poor. The rest of the first week is a washout – tiny waves, strong cross-off winds, and nothing clean.

The second week doesn’t offer much salvation. We’re stuck with mostly 1ft to 2ft junk until the 21st of July. On Tuesday the 21st, the afternoon shows a sudden spike to 5ft from the south with a 6-second period, and energy hits 168 – moderate. But the wind is a strong 22 mph cross-off, so it’s going to be blown out and ugly. Not a fun time.

Honestly, the best on offer is a toss-up between the Friday 10th and Saturday 11th mornings. Those 3ft to 3ft south swells with clean offshore wind are the only windows where a longboard might catch a knee-high crumble. But it’s weak, short-period slop, and the break is exposed to the east, not the south, so the swell won’t wrap in well. For a beginner spot, this is about as flat as it gets.

Given the lack of any decent swell, and the constant wind, this stretch is more interesting for kite surfing on a breezy afternoon than for paddle surfing. Don’t hold your breath – but forecasts can change, and it tends not to stay this poor for long.

Rusty.

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