120th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get into it.

We’re looking at 120th Street, and I gotta be straight with you – the next 16 days are a bit of a struggle. There’s no real standout quality surf on offer. The whole period is a real mixed bag of tiny, weak swells and onshore winds that just won’t quit for long stretches. The water is sitting at a warm 78°, which is a touch warmer than usual for this time of year, so at least you won’t need a thick wetsuit.

The first solid recommendation doesn’t come until Friday the 28th of August, and even then it’s pretty ordinary. The morning shows a tiny 3ft swell from the SSE with a short period of 6 seconds. The combined energy is weak (72). The wind is cross-offshore from the SW at 9 mph, which keeps it clean, but it’s just not exciting. The afternoon is much the same with a 2ft swell. It’s surfable, but only just.

We then hit a gap. Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th are poor, with onshore and cross-shore winds ruining any chance of a decent wave. Monday the 31st of August has a moment in the afternoon – a glassy 0.7ft swell from the ESE with a very long period of 18 seconds. The energy is weak (55), but it’s a window of absolute calm. Same story on Tuesday the 1st of September morning: glassy with a 1ft, 15-second swell, and the energy climbs a bit to moderate (109). It’s clean, but the waves are just too small to get excited about.

Then the real trouble starts. From Tuesday the 1st of September afternoon right through to Monday the 7th of September, the wind turns onshore and howls. We’re talking strong breezes and near gale-force winds from the NE hitting 34 mph, with the swell pushing up to 5ft by the 5th. The combined energy gets strong, hitting 359 on the 5th, but the quality is absolute trash – blown out, messy, and lumpy. That’s a solid week of no-go conditions. For a beach/jetty setup like this, it’s honestly more interesting for the kite surfers than paddle surfing.

The outlook finally gets a little better by Tuesday the 8th of September. The morning shows a 2ft swell from the East with a 9-second period, light cross-offshore wind from the SSW at 6 mph, and moderate energy (110). It’s clean, but again, it’s just ordinary, surfable waves. The afternoon sees the wind pick up, so the window is narrow.

Overall, the only real standout across the whole 16 days is that brief, glassy window on the 31st of August and the 1st of September. If you’re desperate for a paddle and the water is like glass, you might score a fun little wave, but don’t expect anything with any push. The rest is a write-off. This is a rough run for the area, but it tends not to stay poor forever – forecasts can change.

Rusty.

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