Jennette's Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, let’s have a look at what’s on offer for the next couple of weeks. We’re looking at Jennette’s Pier (North Carolina) here. Straight up, the water temp is doing nothing unusual – it’s about average for this time of year. The pattern for the next week or so is pretty grim. There’s a real dry spell for surfable waves. We’ve got wind and swell, but it’s all cross-onshore junk for days, and the scores are at rock bottom for the first week. It’s not until Friday morning, the 18th of September that we see a glimmer, and even then it’s just ordinary.

Friday 18th September is your first real chance, and it’s a quiet one. Swell is only 2ft from the east with a short 7-second period – not much grunt. The combined energy is weak (64). BUT the wind is glassy, absolutely flat calm in the morning. That means clean conditions, even if the waves are small. For a beginner or someone on a longboard, it’s a window. Not a standout, just a relief.

Then we go into another flat and ordinary patch until Tuesday the 22nd of September. The swell tries to ramp up – we get an 8ft east-northeast swell (8-second period, combined energy soaring to 734), which means moderate to strong energy. But the wind is light cross-onshore or cross, and the forecast says "marginal" conditions. That size, with that short period, is going to be a messy, closed-out shorebreak. This is more of a kite-surfing setup than paddle surfing if you ask me.

The true standout, the one that gets my heart beating a little faster, is Thursday morning, the 24th of September. We’ve got a 6ft swell from the east (8-second period, combined energy 460 – moderate energy), and the wind swings to a light cross-offshore from the northwest. Those pockets of clean, lined-up waves are definitely possible. The forecast actually says "expect good surf conditions" for that morning window. It’s not huge, but it’s clean, it’s surfable, and after all that junk, this is the one to circle on the calendar.

After that, it gets messy again. By Friday the 25th, we have a 10ft northeast swell (combined energy 1507 – strong energy), but it’s pinned by a fresh cross-onshore wind. That’s expert-only territory, and frankly, it’s going to be a washing machine. The following days are blown out by near-gale or strong winds.

So, to sum it up: the first ten days are mostly a write-off. There’s a tiny glassy window on the 18th for the mellow crew, and then the real bet is Thursday morning the 24th. That’s your pick of the run – clean, moderate swell with the right wind. After that, it’s either too messy or too big and wild.

Stay patient, lads.

- Rusty

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