Oswald State Park/Short Sands Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's take a look at what we've got for Oswald State Park/Short Sands. I gotta be straight with you – it's a tough outlook. We're looking at a solid 16 days, but for the vast majority of it, conditions are just not playing ball. The wind is almost always from the wrong direction, mostly cross-on or cross, which is going to leave the ocean looking messy and chopped up. The swell is there, but the quality just isn't, which is a real bummer because this place can be a gem.

We kick off on Friday, July 10th, with a tiny 2 ft SW groundswell, but it's a really long period 16-second swell. The water is sitting at a very unusual 53 °F, which is 6.5 °F colder than normal for this time of year, so you'll want a good steamer. The wind is onshore from the WNW at 9 mph, so the surf is poor.

Moving through the weekend and into the next week, things don't improve. We see some bigger swell pushing in, like a 4 ft WNW swell on Saturday, July 11th, but it's a short period (10 seconds) and the cross-shore winds ruin any chance of it being clean. The wave energy is moderate at best, hitting the 400s (combined energy of 415 on Saturday morning). Every morning and afternoon for the following week is just a repeat of cross or cross-onshore winds, making for poor, choppy conditions.

There is a glimmer of hope late in the second week. Around Wednesday, July 22nd, the swell picks up to a solid 5 ft from the NW, and the energy is starting to get strong, hitting 603 (combined energy). It's still a bit raw with cross-onshore winds, but the size is getting interesting. Thursday, July 23rd, sees the biggest consistent readings, with a 5 ft NW swell and a strong energy reading of 727 (combined energy) in the morning. The wind is still cross-onshore though, so it's not going to be a pristine day. This one is really for the experienced crew only, as the swell is over 5 ft and the whole setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing in those messy conditions. The best of a bad bunch looks to be Saturday, July 25th, but even then, it's a 5 ft NW swell with a short 8-second period and messy cross-shore winds.

Overall, there are no true standouts in this period. It's a blank run for clean surf. This spot is fairly consistent for swell, so when the wind pattern finally shifts, it'll come good, but that's not in this forecast.

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