Lincoln City Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's break down what Lincoln City’s got cookin’ for the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you—this stretch of coast is lookin’ pretty quiet for a while. The water’s running at 50°F and that’s a staggering 9°F colder than what we’d normally see this time of year. You’re gonna want a thick suit, no question.

For the first several days, there’s just nothing doin’. Monday the 13th through Wednesday the 16th, we’ve got tiny, weak swell with poor conditions, and the wind is mostly cross or cross-onshore which is just choppin’ things up. The combined swell energy is moderate at best, topping out around 502 (moderate energy) late Thursday, but the shape is marginal at best.

We finally start seein’ a pulse of longer-period groundswell arrivin’ Friday morning, July 17th. The swell is 3ft from the WNW with a period of 17 seconds—that’s a proper groundswell, but honestly, the energy is only in the moderate range (755). What makes this one interesting is the wind is offshore from the WNW, light breeze. For a beach-reef setup like Lincoln City, that offshore wind is the key. The shape should be cleanest Friday morning. But this is a long-period swell, so at a beach break it might break a bit too straight; still, with those conditions, it’s about as good as it’s gonna get in this run. Crowds are sometimes an issue here, so you might have company for the better early windows.

Through the weekend and into the next week, the swell ticks up. Saturday the 18th sees 5ft from the NW but the wind swings cross-onshore, and the wave comment says it’s only marginal. Sunday the 19th brings 6ft to 7ft, but again winds are moderate cross-shore and the period drops to 7-8 seconds—short period windswell, not as nice. By Monday the 20th, we’re lookin’ at 7ft from the NW, but it’s still that short period and cross-onshore breeze. That’s gettin’ into expert-only size with the chop, and honestly the setup looks more interesting for kite surfin’ than paddle surfin’ on those days.

The standout in this whole forecast? I’d put my money on Friday morning, July 17th. It’s not huge—3ft from the WNW—but with that 17-second period and offshore light breeze, it’ll be the cleanest window we get. The combined energy is moderate (755), but the quality from the wind will be the best of the bunch. Everything else is either too short-period, too windy, or just plain marginal. The second week has a few pulses of 6ft to 7ft swell around July 25th and 26th, but they’re dogged by cross-onshore winds, makin’ ’em more of a messy option. Promisin’ on paper, but less certain to be clean.

So, if you’re keen, point your board for Friday morning. Otherwise, we’re in for a long, quiet spell with only a few glimmers.

Rusty.

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