Oswald State Park/Short Sands Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on offer for the next couple of weeks.

Well, I gotta be straight with you – it's a pretty grim run for Oswald State Park/Short Sands. The whole 16-day window is looking like a bust. We've got a solid two-week stretch of poor surf, starting right from the get-go and running all the way through the 21st of August. Don't get your hopes up.

The main issue is a persistent cross-shore or cross-onshore wind, mostly from the NNW, that's going to keep things choppy and messy. The swell is small and weak, with combined energy readings mostly in the low to mid-100s (190-166), which is just weak, un-energetic stuff. For the first few days, we're looking at wave heights around 3 ft to 4 ft, but it's all short-period, onshore junk. On Saturday the 10th and Sunday the 11th, the swell gets a bit bigger, hitting 5 ft, and the energy jumps up a notch (336-439), but it's still cross-onshore winds and the notes say "poor surf conditions" or at best "marginal." That 5 ft is too big for beginners anyway, but with the wind as it is, it's just a messy, blown-out wall for the few who might paddle out.

There's a tiny glimmer right at the very end, on Monday the 18th of August. The morning looks clean with a light offshore breeze from the SSE. The swell is small, only about 2 ft, but it's a long-period groundswell from the west (15 seconds). That's the kind of energy that can wrap into a point, but at a beach break, it'll be tricky. The combined energy of 310 is moderate. But honestly, it's a long shot, and a fickle one at that. The rest of that week just fades back into poor conditions.

Bottom line: if you're looking for a paddle, you're not going to find one here. The setup is more interesting for a kite surfer with that persistent cross-shore wind. For us surfers, it's a blank run. That's just how it goes sometimes.

Rusty.

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