Lincoln City Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it. This is a tough one for the next couple of weeks. Honestly, if you’re looking for clean, surfable waves, you’re gonna have to be patient. The forecast is a bit of a grind, with a lot of messy, onshore wind and small, jumbled swell. There’s a long gap of poor conditions before we see anything that’s even worth a second look.

We start out with a tiny bit of energy on the morning of Wednesday, July 8th. Lincoln City is seeing a 2ft swell from the SW, but it’s a long-period 18-second groundswell with a weak combined energy (602). The wind is cross-shore, so it’s not totally blown out, but the wave comment calls it marginal. The water temperature is a shocker at 50°F, which is a massive 9°F colder than normal for this time of year. That’s seriously unusual; you’ll want a thick wetsuit. The afternoon gets windier, so it’s not getting any better.

The rest of the first week, and the whole second week, is a real struggle. From Thursday the 9th all the way through to Monday the 20th of July, the conditions are consistently poor. The wind is almost always cross-on or cross-shore, and the swell is a mix of small, short-period junk and choppy sea state. The combined energy stays low to moderate, mostly in the 200-700 range, but the quality is just not there. The morning of Saturday the 11th has a slightly bigger 5ft swell from the WNW with a light onshore breeze, but it’s still only a marginal call.

Now, here’s the only thing that catches my eye. It’s not a classic, but it’s the best of a bad bunch. The Thursday afternoon of July 16th and the Friday of July 17th show a jump in the combined energy. On the 16th afternoon, we’ve got 2ft from the WNW with a very long 18-second period, and the energy hits 749. Then on the 17th morning, it’s 3ft from the WNW at 17 seconds, pushing energy to 751. The afternoon of the 17th is even better, with energy hitting 989. The wind is cross-shore, which is the best we’ll see. This is a long-period groundswell, so it’ll be more drawn out and have more power for the size. It’s a promising sign but it’s still a week and a half away, so don’t book the day off work just yet.

The standouts here are the afternoon of Thursday, July 16th, and the morning and afternoon of Friday, July 17th. The swell direction is WNW, which is a good match for the exposed setup at Lincoln City. The cross-shore wind will keep things reasonably clean. It’s not going to be a classic, but it’s the only window in the 16 days that looks like you might actually get a few turns. The rest of the time, the wind and chop are going to make it a real battle.

Stay patient, and keep an eye on that mid-July window. It’s not much, but it’s all we’ve got.

Rusty.

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