120th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Hey folks, it's Rusty.

Honestly, looking at the next stretch, we're in for a pretty flat and quiet run at 120th Street. There are some clean, glassy moments early on, but the swell just isn't there to do much with it. We're looking at a long, slow grind of small waves for the first week or so. The wait will be worth it for one solid window later on, but you'll need patience.

Wednesday the 19th starts things off with a touch warmer than normal water at 78°F, about 3°F above average. It's clean, with a light offshore cross-breeze, but the swell is tiny, around 1ft from the southeast (36 energy), and just not breaking with any punch. It's a kneeboard or longboard day at best, with poor surf conditions overall.

That flat spell continues for days. Thursday the 20th has a bit more wind and a risk of thunderstorms, but the swell stays weak. We see small, short-period swell in the 1ft range with poor form. Friday the 21st through Sunday the 23rd is more of the same – tiny, disorganized waves. There's a glassy moment Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, but it's only 1ft respectively. It's beautiful weather to be at the beach, but the ocean is just not cooperating for surfing.

The start of the following week, Monday the 24th and Tuesday the 25th, stays on the small side, with some cleaner conditions but still very weak. Waves are 0.7ft to 1ft, and it's just not worth getting too excited about.

We finally see a little pulse of energy kicking in by Wednesday the 26th, with a cross-offshore breeze making things clean. The swell bumps up to 3ft from the SSE, and the energy jumps to 48. It's still on the small side, but it's a step in the right direction. Thursday the 27th looks pretty clean too, with a little more swell from the SSE at 2ft.

Now, the real standout is the window from Saturday the 29th through to Tuesday the 2nd of September. Even though the raw size is small, we finally get a proper longer-period swell. On Saturday the 29th, we have clean conditions with a 2ft, 10-second period swell from the SE, and the energy is moderate at 52. But it’s Sunday the 30th that you want to circle. The wind drops to nothing, it's glassy, and we have a clean 2ft, 9-second SE swell. It should be fun on a longboard, and there won't be much of a crowd.

The best day of the whole period, though, is shaping up to be Tuesday the 1st of September. The forecast is for just 1ft, but it’s with a 13-second period ESE groundswell. The energy jumps to 148, which is moderate, but that long period brings real push. It should be a proper, clean, glassy morning with offshore winds. This is the one day where 120th Street might actually have a few fun, hollow little wedges. It's a real promise, but keep in mind it's a long-range call.

After that, Wednesday the 2nd and Thursday the 3rd slip back into small, wind-affected conditions with more onshore breeze. It's a quiet end to the outlook, but at least we have that Tuesday morning to look forward to.

-Rusty

Read more