Putsborough Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here again, but now in feet and Fahrenheit. Let’s be honest, the next couple of weeks at Putsborough are a tough slog.

It starts off rough. Monday the 31st of August has a solid 7ft swell from the west, but it’s blowing onshore strong, and the surf is just a disaster. The water is 67°, which is much warmer than usual for this time of year. The combined energy is moderate at 840, but that wind kills it. That same nasty pattern sticks through the rest of the week: a mix of cross-shore and onshore winds, with swell hanging around 3ft to 7ft. The wind is just too strong, and the conditions are lumpy and messy. By Friday the 4th of September, you’ve got a 7ft west swell, but the wind is onshore again, and it’s a fresh cross-onshore chop. The energy is still moderate (449), but it’s not surfable.

The wave periods are mostly short, around 7 to 9 seconds, so it’s all windswell with no real punch. The water temperature anomaly drops off the record after that warm start, so it’s back to average for the time of year.

We hit a lull over the weekend of the 5th and 6th. Swell drops to under 3ft, and the energy is weak. Sunday morning the 6th is the first real glimpse of hope – the swell is only 2ft from the west, but you’ve got a light cross-offshore breeze from the SSW. The energy is low (64), but it’s clean. It’s surfable, but very ordinary. That’s the first window, and it’s a tiny one. After that, we’re back into a dry spell with tiny waves and poor conditions all the way through the 13th of September.

The real standout, the only one worth circling on the calendar, is the 14th of September. Monday the 14th brings a solid pulse of swell. The morning sees 5ft from the west, with a moderate cross-onshore wind. The energy jumps to 546, which is moderate. The afternoon is even better: 5ft from the west-southwest, with a period of 9 seconds, and the energy is up to 816. It’s still a cross-onshore wind, so it’s not perfect, but it’s the biggest and most consistent pulse we’ve seen. The water is back to average temperature.

Then Tuesday the 15th of September gets big. The morning hits 8ft from the west, and the afternoon ramps up to 10ft from the west. The energy is strong, hitting 935 in the morning and a very strong 1312 in the afternoon. But the wind is brutal – a strong breeze and then a near gale from the southwest. The wave period is short at 8 to 9 seconds. This is big, powerful, and messy. For a beginner, this is too much. For anyone, this is a battle. The setup at Putsborough is a beach, so with that much swell and that wind, this is looking more like a kite-surfing session than a paddle-surfing one. The waves will be closing out and lumpy.

So, to be honest, the best on offer is that Sunday morning the 6th for a tiny, clean, but ordinary session, and the Monday the 14th for the biggest, most consistent swell of the run, even if the wind is a bit annoying. The rest of the 16 days is a whole lot of waiting. Don’t expect much.

Rusty.

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