Jennette's Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – this is a grim stretch for the Outer Banks. We’re looking at a 16-day window with basically no green lights, so I’m going to walk you through the long, flat spell we’re in for.

The whole period kicks off with a total dud on Friday, July 24th. Jennette’s Pier is getting a weak 4ft NE windswell with a short, snappy 5-second period, but the wind is a messy cross-onshore at 15 mph. The combined energy is a feeble 119, and it’s just a choppy, rain-soaked mess. Not worth paddling out.

Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th don’t get any better. Saturday morning has a clean cross-offshore breeze, but the swell drops to 3ft with that same short period. The energy is down to 65. It’s small and weak. Sunday brings a bit more size at 3ft from the NNE, but the wind is cross-shore and the energy is still only 102. It’s a cross-chop with no real push.

The whole first week is a washout. Monday through Wednesday see the swell shrink to below 2ft, and the wind just keeps shifting around, never giving us a clean, lined-up wave. The only tiny flicker is Wednesday afternoon, July 29th, when a gentle offshore wind from the WSW cleans up a 3ft, 4-second windswell. The energy is just 74. The report calls it “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions,” which is a polite way of saying it’s basically a lake with a breeze. Not worth the drive.

The first week of August is even worse. The swell remains tiny, rarely cracking 2ft. The combined energy is barely in the double digits. We get a few glassy mornings on the 5th and 6th, but with swell heights of 2ft and 1ft, you’re looking at ankle-snappers. The best you can hope for is a longboard and a meditative session.

There is a slight pulse of energy on Sunday, August 2nd, when the swell bumps up to 5ft from the NNE. The combined energy jumps to 335, which is moderate. But it’s a completely cross-shore wind at 12 mph, creating a lumpy cross-chop. The period is still a short 6 seconds. It’s a raw, messy power surge that will be more interesting for the kite surfers than anyone on a paddleboard.

Honestly, there’s not a single standout session in the entire 16-day run. The forecast is a dead zone. The water temp is sitting at a warm 81°F, which is pretty much normal for this time of year. But with no real swell and only scraps of windswell, it’s a tough outlook. The only silver lining is that the breaks around here are usually fairly consistent, so a blank run like this is a bummer, but it tends not to last forever. Forecasts can change.

Rusty.

Read more