Huntington Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s look at what we’ve got here for the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, the outlook for the next 16 days is a bit of a grind for Huntington Beach. The pattern is pretty locked in with small swell and persistent cross-onshore wind, so don't get your hopes up for any stand-out sessions.

It starts off tough. Thursday the 10th through to the end of the first week, we’re looking at almost daily cross-on winds from the SSE or SSW, mostly blowing at 6 to 9 mph. Swell is kid-sized at around 1 ft to 3 ft, mostly from the SW and SSW. The energy is moderate, with values like 477 on Thursday morning, but the quality is poor. The swell period is long though, between 14 and 20 seconds, which gives the waves shape, but the steady onshore breeze makes things choppy and messy.

Friday the 11th through Sunday the 13th is more of the same. The swell nudges up a hair on Sunday morning to a 3 ft from the west, but the period drops right off to just 7 seconds – that’s short-period windswell, so you get weak, disorganized lump. Not worth paddling out.

The second week rolls in with the same tune: light to gentle SSE to SSW winds, mostly cross-on. Swell stays biting at 1 ft to 3 ft, with energy in the low-to-mid hundreds (208 to 537). The 20th of September has the biggest energy readings of the run – 506 on Sunday morning and 537 in the afternoon – with 3 ft of SW swell and a clean 18-second period. That’s actually the closest we get to a standout. Winds are light at 6 mph from the SSE and SSW, keeping it cross-on but with only small wind ripples. It’s marginal, not perfect, but it’s the best of a poor lot. The water temperature is about average for this time of year, so no shock to the system.

For Huntington Beach, the consistent exposure to SW swell gives it a chance, but the persistent cross-on wind is the killer here. The long-period swell would be better at a point or reef break; at a beach break like this, those 17-20 second intervals often make the waves too lined up and closey.

There’s a long gap of low-quality days, so plan for this as a break for the log if you’re desperate, or keep an eye on it for kite surfing if the wind picks up cleanly.

This is Rusty, signing off. The waves will be back, but it’s a patience game right now.

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