Rockaway Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, let’s have a look at the forecast. It’s going to be a bit of a slow burn over the next few days. There's some swell, but the wind is just going to be a constant problem, chopping everything up. We're looking at a real gap at the start here, a few days where you won't want to be wasting your time.

The first time there's even a sniff of a wave worth riding is Sunday morning, the 30th of August. Don't get too excited though, it's marginal at best. We’ll see 1.9m of NW swell, but with a light cross wind there'll be some ripples on it. The energy is starting to pick up, coming in at 416, so there's some push behind it, but the conditions just aren't clean.

The start of the new week is flat and weak. Monday and Tuesday are poor, with smaller swells and onshore winds killing it. The energy drops off a cliff, reading in the low hundreds or even below, like on Tuesday afternoon when it drops to just 92. There is a day on Wednesday morning, the 2nd, where it’s clear skies but the swell is still tiny, around 0.9m, with a weak energy reading of 123. It wouldn't be worth the paddle.

Then, around the 3rd and 4th of September, we get a tease. A long-period SW groundswell rolls in with a period of 19 seconds. That's proper deep-ocean energy. But it’s small, only 0.6m, and the wind is just ruining it. The energy is pumping, hitting 601 on Friday morning, but with that size, it's like having a Ferrari with no gas.

But then we get to the main event. Sunday morning, the 6th of September. This is what we're waiting for. The wind is forecast to be glassy, dead clean, and we've got a long-period SW groundswell at 1.2m and 14 seconds. The energy is strong, hitting 751. This is the one. An open window at Rockaway (New York) with clean lines and proper push. That SW direction is ideal for the break too, and the glassy conditions will absolutely be the cherry on top. This is the best surf of the whole forecast, by a long way.

After that, it gets messy again. The swells back off and the winds turn onshore, creating more chop. There are a few more long-period SW pulses around the 8th, 9th, and 10th, but they’re undersized and mostly blown out. The morning of the 10th might have a tiny window with light winds and a 0.9m SW swell at 16 seconds, but it's a fraction of what we'll see on that Sunday.

So, the bottom line is this: the next few days are a bust. Don't let it get you down. That Sunday morning, September 6th, is the real deal. A glassy, clean day with a consistent groundswell, that's the one we're all hoping for. The rest of the fortnight is just about being patient and waiting for that next window to open.

Rusty.

Read more