Lowestoft Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – looking at the 16-day window for our local zone, it’s a pretty bleak picture. There aren't any real standouts, and the first half of the period is a write-off. We’re looking at a long gap of poor to non-existent surf. Let’s break it down.

The pattern starts quiet and just stays that way. From now right through until around the 5th or 6th of September, we’re dealing with tiny, weak waves. The combined swell energy is in the weak range (3 to 39 range), with heights barely hitting 2ft from the north. The wind is offshore or cross-offshore for most of this time, which would be great if there was any swell to clean up, but there isn’t.

The first real chance of a pulse comes on the 7th of September. The swell direction swings to the southeast, bumping heights up to around 3ft, but the period is a short 4 to 5 seconds – that’s windswell, not groundswell, so it won't have much push. The combined energy stays weak (37 to 46). Still, with a gentle offshore breeze and clean conditions, Lowestoft might offer a few crumbly close-outs for the longboard or a foamy. At just 3ft, it's fine for beginners.

Then we hit another flat spot. After the 7th, the numbers drop back to zero energy for the 8th and 9th, with no swell height recorded. Just nothing.

The next minor window opens up around the 10th of September. There’s a brief spike with a 2ft north swell on the afternoon of the 10th (combined energy hitting 52 – still weak), but the wind is a strong 35 km/h from the northwest. That’s going to be choppy and messy. The 11th and 12th look cleaner with lighter winds and cross-offshore breezes, but the swell drops right back to tiny 1ft to 1ft from the north-northeast. On the 12th of September, the swell period stretches to 10 seconds, which is better, but at just 1ft (combined energy 37), it’s barely a ripple. For a point or reef break, that longer period would be a bonus, but at Lowestoft, a beach break, a long-period 1ft north swell will just be fat and straight.

The final few days from the 13th to the 15th of September see the swell height creep up to 4ft from the east-northeast, but the period stays a pathetic 5 seconds, and the wind goes cross-onshore and onshore from the southeast, turning it into a choppy, bumpy mess (combined energy up to 80 – still just moderate). That’s perfect for a kite session, not a paddle.

The best of a bad bunch? If you’re desperate, the morning of the 7th of September (Lowestoft) is the pick of the entire outlook. You get a 3ft southeast windswell with clean, gentle offshore conditions. It’s not going to be epic, but it will be the least ugly wave in the water. Everything else is either flat, tiny, or blown out.

Stay patient, gang. When it’s this flat, forecasts can change, but this run looks stubborn.

Rusty.

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