Number Fours Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Alright, let’s have a proper look at what’s on the cards for Number Fours.

Right off the bat, the first week or so is a bit of a struggle. We’ve got some swell around, but it’s mostly small and the wind, while cross-offshore, is a persistent moderate breeze that’s keeping things from coming together nicely. The water temp is sitting at a comfortable 81°, which is pretty normal for this time of year.

The first real glimmer of hope shows up on Thursday, the 20th of August. The morning and afternoon both have a clean 2 ft swell from the SSW with a very long period of 17-18 seconds. That’s groundswell energy, and with a light breeze onshore, it’s going to be glassy and clean. The combined swell energy is moderate (322). It’s not big, but for a reef break like Number Fours, that long period and clean surface will make for some fun, lined-up waves. This is the standout of the first week – a sneaky good session for the intermediate surfer who’s paying attention.

After that, it gets a bit messy. Friday the 21st sees the wind shift to a light cross-shore, which will put some small ripples on the face, and the swell drops off again. The weekend of the 22nd and 23rd is a write-off. The wind picks up to a fresh breeze, and on Sunday the 23rd the swell jumps to 6 ft, but it’s a short-period, wind-affected mess from the ENE, giving poor conditions.

Then we hit a long, frustrating stretch. From Monday the 24th all the way through to the end of the month, the swell gets bigger – up to 10 ft by the 28th – but it’s all short-period (7-9 seconds) ENE windswell with a strong to very strong combined energy (up to 1890). The wind stays cross-off but it’s a fresh to strong breeze the whole time. That much short-period energy with that much wind is going to be a churning, bumpy mess. Honestly, that setup looks far more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing – it’s going to be blown-out and unruly for a standard board.

The only other small window to keep an eye on is Thursday the 27th and Friday the 28th. The swell hits 10 ft with a period stretching to 9 seconds and energy is very high. It’s marginal at best for paddle surfing given the fresh wind, but if you’re an expert with a lot of patience, it could be a wild, challenging session. For most of us, it’s a skip.

So, bottom line: the best of the lot is that Thursday the 20th. Get out there for the morning or afternoon glass-off. After that, it’s a long, windy gap of poor to marginal conditions until the very end of the forecast period. The break is fairly consistent, so things could change, but right now, it’s a waiting game.

Rusty.

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