North Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Gotta be straight with you – it’s a tough stretch ahead for North Street. Let’s walk through it.

The forecast is basically a long, quiet period of small, messy swells. There’s no standout, no call to action. The first few days are dominated by weak, short-period windswell from the SSE and S, with onshore or cross-onshore winds a lot of the time. The water is sitting at 75°, which is about normal for this time of year, so at least you won’t need a thick suit.

We start off on Saturday, August 1st, with a tiny 2ft SSE swell at a short 7 seconds, combined energy of just 48 (weak). The wind is a cross-onshore 12 mph from the SSE, so it’s choppy and poor. Sunday, August 2nd, is a bit bigger in the afternoon at 4ft, but the period drops to 4-5 seconds – that’s just wind chop. Still messy.

Monday, August 3rd, sees the biggest swell of the whole run, hitting 6ft from the S with a period of 8 seconds and combined energy jumping to 383 (moderate). That’s the most juice we’ll see, but it’s accompanied by a moderate cross-shore wind from the SSW, so the quality is poor. It’s not clean, and it’s not well-shaped. The rest of that week is a rinse-and-repeat of small, weak, often cross-shore or cross-onshore conditions.

There’s a noticeable gap in quality from the start until about Tuesday, August 11th. On the Tuesday afternoon the wind swings cross-offshore from the WSW, and the surf is clean, but the swell is a pathetic 2ft with a combined energy of only 36. That’s not a surfable wave on a beach/jetty setup.

The final few days, from August 13th to the 16th, are a total washout. Swell heights drop to 0.7ft – 1ft, combined energy is in the single digits or low teens. There’s a brief moment of glassy conditions on the morning of August 13th, but no swell to push it. You’d be better off going for a paddle than a surf.

Truth is, for the entire 16-day window, North Street offers nothing that’s worth paddling out for. The winds are rarely favorable, and the energy is too low to overcome the chop. If you’re looking for a silver lining, we’re in a flat spell, but it’s a pretty normal one for this area. Forecasts can change, but right now, I’d save the wax.

Rusty.

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