120th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, and I’ve gotta be straight with you – this 16-day stretch for 120th Street is a tough one to write about. This is a beach/jetty setup, exposed to the swell, but looking at the whole run, it’s just one big gap of nothing special. We’ve got no real standouts, no days where the stars align. The forecast is showing “poor surf conditions” right the way through, so the first real recommendation you can get on your board is going to be a long wait. There’s a solid gap of zero surf worth talking about from now until early September.

Let’s look at what little there is. Starting Thursday morning, 20th August, you’ve got clear skies but a cross-on wind from the SSE at 6 mph messing up tiny 1 ft swell from the SE with a period of 8 seconds. The water here is sitting at 78°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year – not a game-changer, but you’ll notice it’s a bit balmy. The combined energy is weak, just 18, so don’t expect any push. That afternoon turns worse with a fresh 18 mph cross-shore wind and conditions described as lumpy.

Friday and Saturday are more of the same: messy winds, tiny swell from poor directions. There’s a brief flicker on Sunday morning the 23rd when we finally see some offshore wind from the WSW at 9 mph. That cleans up a tiny 2 ft swell from the SSE, but the period is only 6 seconds. The combined energy climbs a bit to 48, but it’s still weak. By Sunday afternoon, the wind goes cross-off from the WNW at 12 mph, and we get a slightly better 3 ft swell from the south. That period is still short at 6 seconds, but with moderate energy hitting 105, it’s the best wave energy we see in the first week. Honestly, it’s still poor surf conditions and not a real standout – just the least bad of a bad bunch.

The rest of the first week and the start of the second is a graveyard of tiny swell and onshore or cross-shore winds. Monday the 24th afternoon goes glassy with no wind, but the swell is only 1 ft from the SSE with a 6-second period. It’s pretty, but you couldn’t ride a ripple on it.

Now, we skip ahead to the final few days. Thursday the 3rd of September morning shows the biggest swell of the whole forecast: 4 ft from the NE. The combined energy jumps to 149, which is moderate. The wind is cross-off from the NNW at 22 mph, so it will be clean. But that wind is fresh and strong, and the 6-second period means the wave shape won’t be great. It’s still rated as poor surf conditions.

On Friday the 4th of September, the morning is clean with a cross-off wind from the NNW at 18 mph, but the swell drops back to 2 ft from the east with an 8-second period. The energy fades to 62.

There’s simply no day in this 16-day window where the swell size, direction, and wind align for a proper session. The breaks are consistent, but the surf itself is consistently poor. With such weak energy and mostly cross or onshore winds, it looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing through most of this period.

Keep your wetsuit dry, mate. Forecasts can change, so don’t write off the whole window, but as things stand, there’s nothing to get excited about.

- Rusty

Read more