Jacks Hole Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s talk about Jacks Hole. This reef setup is for advanced surfers only, and honestly, the 16-day window is a tough one. We’ve got a real dry spell on our hands for most of it.

Looking at the whole picture, the ocean is pretty sleepy out there. The water temperature is sitting at 63°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year—nothing crazy, just a little on the balmy side. But the waves? Flat spells are the name of the game.

We start off on Saturday the 5th with just 0.3ft of junky, short-period windswell out of the south. The wind is a strong cross-shore, and the combined swell energy is only 6 – that’s barely a ripple. It’s a complete write-off.

Sunday the 6th sees a tiny bump, with 4ft to 4ft of swell, but the period is a shocking 5 seconds. That’s pure windslop. The morning is messy with a fresh cross-breeze, but by the afternoon it cleans up a bit with a cross-offshore wind. Still, the swell energy is only 97 (weak), and it’s just not worth paddling out for.

Monday the 7th drops right back off to 1ft and then 0.3ft. For the rest of the first week and into the second, from the 8th through the 18th, it’s a brutal run. Day after day shows zero to 0.7ft of swell, with combined energy mostly sitting in the single digits. There’s no power, no push. It’s a total flat spell.

There is a little flicker of life right at the very end, on the 19th of September. We see 0.3ft of swell, but the period jumps to 16 seconds – that’s a very long period groundswell. The combined energy sits at 8, which is still weak, but the offshore wind in the morning keeps things clean. Still, for a reef break that needs some size, that tiny amount of long-period energy won’t produce much.

The best of a bad lot? Honestly, there isn’t a standout. If you had to pick a time, the afternoon of Sunday the 6th offers the most height (4ft) with clean conditions, but those 5-second waves are just not fun. For the advanced crew, the glassy mornings on the 12th and 14th with 0.7ft and 0.3ft are about as good as it gets, which is to say, not good at all.

There’s nothing going on here for beginners or anyone looking for a real wave. The setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing on those windy days, but even then, the swell is tiny.

Keep an eye on the long-range, but for now, the board stays in the car.

Rusty

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