Matunuck Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Grim news, folks. I've scanned the entire 16-day forecast for our stretch of coast, and I gotta be straight with you: there isn't a single day in this window that I'd tell you to grab your board for. The finder is showing a big, fat zero across the board. That's a tough pill to swallow, especially coming off a summer that's had its moments. It's one of those blank runs that just seems to set in, and for a spot like this, it's not unheard of. The good news is, forecasts can shift, and it rarely stays this flat for long.

The first real pulse of surf energy we see is on Monday the 17th, but it's a mess. We've got a weak 4ft south swell with a short 5-second period, and the wind is howling onshore from the SSE at 15 mph. The water's a warm 71°, which is about average for the time of year, but that's the only good thing about it. The energy reading is a pathetic 97, so there's just nothing behind it. It's a write-off.

The rest of that first week is the same story. The swell tries to fill in a little on Tuesday the 18th, but the period is still junk, and it's mostly cross-onshore chop. The waves never get above 5ft and the energy stays weak, in the low 100s and then dropping into the teens and twenties by the end of the week. There are a few windows of clean, glassy conditions on Wednesday the 19th and Friday the 21st, but the swell is barely a ripple at 2ft or less. You'd be paddling for nothing.

The second week isn't any better. We're looking at a whole stretch of nothing from the 22nd to the 25th, with waves under 2ft. The forecast models are showing a possible uptick in size for the 26th of August, with the swell jumping to 5ft and the energy finally getting into the moderate range at 365. But the wind will be all over the place, and the period is still only 8 seconds, which is nothing to write home about. It's a tease.

There's a brief window around Thursday the 28th of August where the long-range models are hinting at something more substantial. The swell period jumps to 13 seconds, and the energy reading is strong at 574. That's the most interesting signal in the whole forecast. But, it's a long way out, so I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Even if it does show, it's thick with onshore winds, so it'll likely be a choppy, cross-shore mess. For a reef break like Matunuck, a long-period swell from the SSE means it could be breaking a bit too straight, and with that wind, it's just not going to be clean. This setup looks more interesting for the kite surfers than for us paddle surfers.

The very tail end of the forecast period, starting September 1st, just fades back into nothing. So, my honest advice is to find another project for the next two weeks. Dust off the longboard for a flat day cruise or just wait it out. This is one of those stretches where the ocean just isn't cooperating.

Rusty

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