La Push Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s coming up for La Push. It’s a bit of a mixed bag over the next couple of weeks, with a real lack of strong, consistent swell. The energy is mostly weak, and we’ve got a lot of marginal conditions to wade through before we see any real highlights.

The water temperature is sitting at 57°F, which is a touch colder than normal for this time of year—about 3°F off. Nothing crazy, but you’ll want a decent wetsuit.

The whole period kicks off on Friday morning, August 14th, with a glassy session at La Push. We’re looking at a tiny 2 ft swell from the southwest, but the period is a long 16 seconds, which is proper groundswell energy. The combined energy is weak at 204, so it’s not powerful, but the glassy wind and that long period will make for some clean, fun little waves. The wind is a slight 5 km/h from the southwest, so it’s glassy. This is the best of the first week, but really, it’s the only real standout.

After that, things get messy. From Friday afternoon through the weekend and into the next week, it’s a story of small, cross-onshore winds and poor surf conditions. Swell heights stay under 3 ft, periods are inconsistent, and the wind is often wrong. Saturday morning, August 15th, has a 2 ft swell from the southwest with a 18-second period, giving us a combined energy of 394, but the cross-onshore wind kills it. The same goes for Sunday and Monday—small, choppy, and not worth paddling out for.

Then on Tuesday, August 18th, we see a bump in swell height to 5 ft from the west-northwest, but the period is a short 7 seconds, and the wind is cross-onshore. The combined energy jumps to 559, which is moderate, but this is a windswell, not a groundswell, and it’s going to be choppy and messy. For a beach break setup, this is more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The rest of the first week and into the second week is a wasteland of poor or marginal conditions. We have a big gap from around August 21st to the 23rd where there’s nothing good at all.

The real standout, if you’re patient, comes on the morning of Monday, August 24th. The swell is 4 ft from the west-northwest, with a short 7-second period, but the wind is glassy—just 5 km/h from the west-southwest. The combined energy is 293, which is still weak, but glassy conditions at La Push with a bit of size will be clean. This is a morning session for the patient surfer. The short period means the waves will be a bit lumpy, but the glassy wind will make up for it.

After that, the end of August sees a return to tiny, weak swells and mostly onshore winds. The 27th and 28th have some clean, cross-offshore winds, but the swell is tiny—1 ft to 2 ft—so it’s not worth chasing.

Bottom line: the first week is a struggle. Your best bet is the glassy Friday morning, August 14th, for the cleanest waves, or hold out for the glassy Monday morning, August 24th. Everything else is a write-off for decent surf. Keep an eye on the forecasts, because things can change, but right now, it’s lean.

Rusty.

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