120th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, let’s be straight with you—this is one of those dead, flat, soul-crushing stretches that makes you wonder why you live near the ocean. 120th Street is looking like a swimming pool for the next two and a half weeks. No joke, there’s a big gap of no real surf from now until the 17th. The swell is tiny, the wind is mostly junk, and even the clean windows are just ankle-biters. Better off watching surf films than dragging your board down here.

Here’s the skin-and-bones of it. Through the 14th, the waves are stuck between 0.5ft and 2ft—pathetic. Most days are cross-onshore, choppy, and messy. The 8th and 9th have some clean spells with a light offshore breeze, but the energy is weak (26 and 20 in the combined energy), so you’re looking at knee-high dribble at best. The 13th has a touch more push—a southeast swell at 2ft with a 10-second period, and the energy jumps to 76—but it’s still far from rideable for anyone who isn’t a total log purist. That’s the highlight of the first week, and that’s saying something.

Pushing into the second week—around the 15th and 16th—there’s a slight bump. The swell gets up to 4ft from the east-northeast, but the period is a weak 5 to 6 seconds. That’s short, mushy, wind-swell junk. The wind is cross-off in the mornings, so it’ll look clean, but the waves won’t have any punch. The 15th afternoon has moderate wave energy (118), but it’s also blowing 18 mph cross-shore with lumpy chop—not worth it.

Then things get nasty. From the 17th onward, we’ve got rain, strong onshores (18–25 mph), and rising swell—up to 6ft by the 18th and 19th, with combined energy jumping to 366 and 491. That’s strong energy, but the direction is east-northeast, which is cross-on here, and the wind is howling. The period drops to 4–8 seconds—short, crap, blown-out slop. This is the kind of setup that looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing. It’ll be dumping and messy, and the only folks having fun will be the strapped-in crew.

The last day of the window, the 21st, has the swell dropping back to 3ft, but it’s straight onshore easterly wind and the energy is moderate (108). Still nothing to write home about.

Honestly, the only half-decent window in the whole 16 days is around the 13th morning—light SSE wind, a little southeast swell at 2ft with a 10-second period, and energy at 76. It’s not going to be epic, but if you’ve got a longboard and just need to get wet, that’s your best shot. And even then, it’s marginal.

Water temps around here are about normal for the season, so at least you won’t be freezing while you’re staring at the flatness. But don’t hold your breath for any hero waves this stretch. Keep the board waxed, but maybe plan on a skate session instead.

Stay salty.

Rusty

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