Putsborough Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what Putsborough has in store for us over the next couple of weeks.

Right now, it’s a bit of a waiting game. The start of this period is pretty grim, with cross-onshore winds and a messy, choppy sea state that’s just not worth paddling out into. We’ve got a solid gap of poor conditions running from Monday the 17th right through until the end of the week. There’s some small swell trying to show up around Friday the 21st, but it’s weak and the conditions are still ordinary.

The first real glimmer of hope comes on Friday morning the 21st. We see a clean, cross-offshore breeze from the East at 9 mph, with a tiny 2 ft swell from the West. The period is short at 8 seconds, and the energy is weak (56). It’s surfable but very ordinary. Nothing to get excited about.

After that, we drop right off again into flatness. From the 22nd through the 25th, the swell is almost non-existent, with heights barely reaching 1.6 ft and very weak energy readings. A lot of glassy, clean-looking mornings, but with nothing to ride. You’d be better off swimming than surfing.

Things start to change towards the end of the month. On Thursday morning the 27th, we get a pulse of 3.6 ft swell from the West, but it’s onshore wind and choppy. Still no good. Then on Friday the 28th, we see a jump in size. The morning brings a 5.9 ft swell from the WSW (683 energy – moderate to strong) with a clean cross-offshore wind from the SSW at 19 mph. That’s a lot more interesting, but the forecast calls it marginal. The wind is clean, but the swell period is short at 8 seconds, so it’ll be a bit lumpy and not the best shape. For a more experienced surfer, it might be worth a look.

The standout window, and I mean the *only* standout, looks like Saturday the 29th. The morning brings a solid 6.9 ft swell from the West with a period of 9 seconds. The combined energy is a whopping 1156 – that’s strong, powerful surf. The wind is offshore from the NW at 16 mph. The water temperature is sitting at a much warmer than normal 66° for this time of year. This is proper, powerful groundswell. Because it’s over 8 ft for the afternoon (6.2 ft) and still very strong, this is really only for the experienced crew. It’ll be big, powerful, and with that long period, it’s going to be best for the point breaks and reefs, not so much for the beach. The crowds at Putsborough can be "often," so expect a packed lineup if the conditions hold.

After that, the surf stays sizeable into the first week of September, but the wind swings around onshore and messy again, so we lose that quality.

So, to sum it up: the first week and a half is a write-off. Your best bet is Saturday the 29th of August for the big, powerful, clean morning surf. That’s the one to mark on the calendar.

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