North Pier (Narragansett) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve gotta be straight with you – this 16-day window for North Pier is a tough one. We’ve got a solid run of poor surf conditions stretching right through from the start on Sunday, August 9th, all the way to the end on Monday, August 24th. There’s no standout day, no real swell to speak of, and the score is flat across the board. It’s a long stretch of nothing special.

Let’s walk through it. The whole period is dominated by tiny swell – mostly 0.3 ft to 3 ft – coming from the S or SSE. The combined wave energy is weak, barely cracking 100 (values between 2 and 51), so there’s just no push in the water. The period is all over the place, from a short 5 seconds to a long 15 seconds, but with that height, it doesn’t matter. It’s not going to break properly.

Sunday morning the 9th kicks off with a tiny 2 ft S swell at 6 seconds – hopeless. The wind is gentle offshore from the WSW, so the surface is clean, but there’s nothing to ride. The rest of the first week is more of the same: Monday the 10th through Wednesday the 12th have 0.3 ft swell, with light offshore or cross-shore winds that keep it clean but flat. Thursday morning the 13th has a glassy moment with 2 ft S swell, but it’s still weak (41 combined energy) and the period is a short 6 seconds – poor shape. Friday the 14th and Saturday the 15th have a slight bump to 1 ft-2 ft, with clean conditions again, but the energy is still low (17-46). It’s frustrating to see such clean surfaces with nothing to surf.

The second week is equally grim. Sunday the 16th through Tuesday the 18th are all 0.7 ft-1 ft, with light winds and occasional glass, but the swell is pathetic. Wednesday the 19th has a tiny 0.7 ft SSE swell with a long 15-second period – that’s a groundswell, but at that height, it’s a non-event. The energy is 43 – weak. Thursday the 20th brings risk of thunderstorms and 16 mph winds, so it’s messy. The last few days, from Friday the 21st to Monday the 24th, offer a little 1 ft-3 ft S swell, but the wind is cross-offshore and the energy stays under 40. The best of a bad bunch might be Saturday morning the 22nd with 3 ft S swell at 5 seconds (39 energy), but that’s a short-period, weak wave – not worth paddling out for.

This break is sheltered, and the optimum direction is E, but we’re getting S and SSE all the way. It’s a mismatch. The water temp anomaly isn’t given, so I can’t tell you if it’s unusual, but the surf is consistently poor. For a spot that’s fairly consistent, this is a real drought. It’s the kind of run that makes you look at the forecast and just shake your head. If you’re a kite surfer, maybe the steady offshore winds on some days could be fun, but for paddling, there’s nothing here.

Rusty.

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