Oswald State Park/Short Sands Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a long, hard look at what’s coming our way for the next couple of weeks. I gotta be straight with you – we’re in a bit of a dry spell for most of this outlook. Don’t get your hopes up for the first ten days, but there is a little glimmer of hope way out there.

We’ve got a long stretch of poor to marginal conditions right out of the gate. Starting Monday the 10th, it’s mostly small, messy, and cross-onshore at Oswald State Park/Short Sands. The water is sitting at 57°, which is about 2° colder than we’d usually see this time of year – that’s notable, so you’ll feel that chill. The week rolls by with tiny waves, mostly under 4 ft, with weak energy readings (66-258) and a lot of wind chop. There’s really nothing worth paddling out for. This lean run stretches all the way through to Monday the 17th. That’s over a week of pretty poor surf.

The first real flicker of hope comes on Tuesday the 18th. The morning session sees the wind go completely glassy with a light NE breeze at 3 mph. The swell is still small, only 2 ft from the SW, but the conditions are suddenly clean. The real standout of the whole outlook, though, is Tuesday afternoon and into Wednesday the 19th. On Tuesday afternoon we get a clean 2 ft from the W with an offshore wind (E at 6 mph) and moderate wave energy (271). The wave period is 13 seconds, which is a nice long groundswell, so the shape will be good but spacing between sets. Wednesday morning builds on this with 3 ft from the WNW and the same clean offshore wind, pushing the energy up to 292. This is the best we’ll see – a couple of clean, offshore windows on small, long-period groundswell. For a beginner-friendly spot, these are perfect little windows.

Then on Thursday the 20th, we get another glassy morning with 4 ft from the WNW. That’s the biggest clean swell of the period, with strong energy (408). The period is a solid 11 seconds. That Thursday morning is the highlight – glassy conditions and head-high sets with some push. The afternoon goes a bit cross-onshore though.

After that, the wind turns sour again, and we slide back into a mix of cross-shore junk and small dribble through the final week. A few marginal sessions pop up around the 24th and 25th, but nothing you’d rush for. Keep your eyes on the 18th and 19th, and definitely the morning of the 20th. That’s your window.

Rusty.

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