92nd Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s going on at 92nd Street (United States).

To be honest, the next couple of weeks are looking flat and pretty sad. We’ve got a long dry spell ahead. I’m not seeing any proper waves come through until we hit the very end of the month, and even then, it’s not going to be anything to write home about. There’s a good stretch of days with no decent surf on offer. For the most part, the swell is tiny and weak, often less than 3ft, with short, choppy periods. Combined wave energy is mostly in the low teens to 80s, just barely pushing moderate at best on a couple of afternoons – that tells you how weak the energy is.

We start off on Friday, August 21, with just 2ft from the east and a period of 5 seconds. The water temp is 77°F, which is much warmer than normal for the time of year, so at least it’s pleasant for a float. But the waves are poor, cross-off wind around 16 mph from the north-northeast means it’s not going to be clean.

The outlook doesn’t change much through the following days. Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd see tiny, onshore slop. Monday the 24th through Wednesday the 26th bring a tiny, long-period swell from the southeast (11–12 sec period), but it’s only 1.0ft. That long period might sound good, but there’s no height to work with. The wind is clean for some of those mornings, but you’d be bobbing around waiting for nothing.

Thursday the 27th has a brief moment of glassy conditions in the afternoon with 2ft swell, but the wind state is “glassy” – which is a major positive. Still, the surf is poor, too small to bother.

Then on Friday the 28th, we finally see a bump: afternoon surf hits 4ft from the south with an 8-second period and combined energy of 358 (moderate wave energy). But the wind is onshore and choppy at 12 mph. That’s the closest we get to a real stand-out, but honestly, with cross-onshore winds, it’s not going to be tidy. This is a breakwater setup, so it’s already tricky. When the swell gets above 5ft it’s too big for beginners, but here we’re just below that.

From Saturday the 29th right through to September 5th, it’s back to tiny surf, mostly under 2ft, with weak energy and either onshore or cross-onshore winds. Tuesday, September 1st afternoon shows a 4ft south swell with 7-second period and combined energy of 216, but it’s classed as marginal and the wind is light cross-onshore, so you’re looking at small, wind-affected waves. Not the time to paddle out.

All in all, nothing really stands out as good. The one slightly bigger pulse on the 28th is let down by the wind. This break can get crowded when it’s working, but I don’t think that’s a worry right now. If you’re a kite surfer, the onshore days might be more your scene because the surf quality is too poor for paddling. But as it stands, we’ll have to wait and see if the long-range forecasts improve.

Rusty.

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