Rock Island Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s get straight into it for Rock Island.

First thing you need to know: the water temp is sitting at 80°F, which is pretty much bang on average for this time of year, so no surprises there.

Right now, we’re looking at a pretty bleak start. The first few days are a write-off. Thursday and Friday are flat with tiny, weak windswell and cross-onshore or onshore breezes – you’re not missing a thing. That carries through Saturday morning with the same story, though Saturday afternoon sees a little bump in the combined energy to 122 (moderate), but it’s still onshore and messy. Sunday morning actually has a light cross-offshore breeze, but the swell is tiny at 1.0ft. Sunday afternoon we finally get a subtle shift – a 1.0ft swell from the SE with a period of 13 seconds, and light cross-off winds. The energy is still weak at 79, but the water *looks* clean. The comment says "surfable but very ordinary" – that’s about right.

Now, Monday the 24th of August morning is where things get interesting. A 6ft swell from the SSE with a *very* long period of 16 seconds rolls in, and combined energy jumps to 1598 (strong). That’s a proper groundswell, and it’s coming with light onshore wind. The break is a reef, which is good for a long-period swell like this – it won’t just close out. The rating is only a 2/5, but this is the first real pulse of the whole outlook. The afternoon gets blown out with onshore winds hitting 12 mph, so the morning window is the one.

Tuesday the 25th of August goes bigger. Morning sees 8ft from the S, 15-second period, and combined energy of 2585 (very strong). This is solid, heavy swell. The wind is onshore at 9 mph though, so it’s not going to be pretty. The afternoon is even worse with strong onshore winds. This is expert-only territory if you’re brave, but the wind is going to chop it up.

The standout of the whole 16 days? Wednesday the 26th of August morning. Glassy conditions – a full 3 mph SSE breeze, dead calm. You’ve got a 7ft S swell at 12 seconds, and the combined energy is 1575 (strong). The comment says "excellent surf conditions for experienced surfers" – and I’m feeling that. This is the one to circle. The reef will handle that long-period energy well, and with glassy conditions, it’ll be clean as a whistle. After that, the afternoon gets blown out by a fresh cross-onshore, so it’s a short-lived window.

The rest of the week after that is a mess – strong onshore winds, big lumpy swell, and rain. Thursday the 27th morning has 10ft S swell at 11 seconds, but with 22 mph onshore wind – that’s more of a kite-surfing setup than a paddle one. Friday the 28th drops off in size but keeps the onshore wind.

Then we hit a long gap. From Saturday the 29th of August all the way through to the end of the forecast on Friday the 4th of September, the swell is tiny – under 2ft consistently. The winds are offshore or cross-offshore, which is nice, but you just don’t have the waves. The energy values are all below 100 (weak). There’s nothing to ride. It’s a blank stretch of about 7 days with no real surf.

So in summary: the only real window for a decent wave is Wednesday the 26th of August morning. The rest is either blown out, too big and messy, or flat. Don’t hold your breath for the second week – it’s a desert.

Rusty, signing off.

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