Moss Landing Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – it’s a tough stretch ahead for Moss Landing. We’re looking at a solid 16-day run, but the first week or so is gonna test your patience. The pattern is stuck in a rut of light cross-onshore breezes and messy, weak, short-period swell that’s just not delivering the goods. There’s a long gap of really marginal days before we see a glimmer of something better way out there.

Let’s start from the beginning. Thursday the 30th of July through to the middle of the first week is just a write-off for quality. We’ve got small 4ft to 6ft swell coming from the WNW, but the period is a short, weak 7 to 10 seconds, and the wind is stubbornly cross-on from the WSW. The combined wave energy is moderate at best – bouncing between 187 and 531 – but the surf quality is rated as 'poor' or 'marginal' at best. It’s that bumpy, unappealing stuff you paddle out for and regret immediately. The water temp is pretty average for this time of year, nothing unusual to report there.

Friday the 31st of July and Saturday the 1st of August are more of the same. A bit of a lift in swell height on Saturday afternoon hits 6ft, but that cross-shore wind just chops it up. Not worth getting wet for. This grim pattern of small, wind-affected surf drags on right through the first full week. Sunday the 2nd of August morning has the best energy of this early period – 6ft at 9 seconds with a combined energy of 531 – but that persistent cross-on wind ruins it.

By the time we hit Tuesday the 4th of August, the swell starts to fade, dropping below 3ft by Wednesday the 5th. The energy falls off a cliff, dropping to 134 and then 108. It’s basically flat and chopped. This continues as a real blank run. From around the 5th of August all the way through the 11th of August, we’re stuck with tiny, weak surf, mostly under 3ft and with wave energy below 200. The wind is still a factor, staying cross-on. A few mornings on the 7th and 8th of August show an offshore wind from the W, but the swell is just too small – 2ft with a period of 9 seconds and energy down at 84. Not enough to do anything with.

There is a little pulse that shows up way out in the forecast. Around Monday the 10th of August, the swell bumps up to 4ft from the WNW with a period of 10 seconds, but the combined energy is only 284, and the cross-on wind is back. It’s still a pass. The real long-range glimmer comes on the 12th of August afternoon, where we see a 2ft swell from the W with a very long period of 14 seconds (energy 164). That’s an interesting sign – a groundswell – but it's tiny. The 13th and 14th of August keep that long-period signal, but the height is a pathetic 1ft to 2ft. For a spot like Moss Landing, which is fairly exposed to the NW, a long-period W swell like that is promising, but we need more size. It’s something to keep an eye on, but for now, we’re looking at a long, poor run with only a whisper of a chance in the second week. Honestly, with the persistent onshore wind and weak energy, the setup here is looking more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

Signing off.
Rusty.

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