Salmon Creek Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here, and I’ve got to be straight with you – this 16-day window for Salmon Creek is a real heartbreaker for a surfer. The problem is simple: the wind is almost always onshore, and it’s blowing straight from the same direction as the swell, which is a classic recipe for blown-out, sloppy lines. The water temp is sitting at 57.7° today, and that’s a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so at least the wetsuit won’t need to be quite so thick.

Looking at the first few days, it’s grim. Through Thursday afternoon the 16th and into the 17th, we’ve got a solid 9.8 ft swell from the WNW, but with a 22 mph onshore wind, it’s just a mess. The combined energy is strong at 1197, but it doesn’t mean a thing if the wind is trashing it. The same story continues through Friday and Saturday the 18th – the swell drops to 2.6 ft on Saturday morning, with a long 16-second period, but the wind is onshore or cross-on, so the waves will be soft and bumpy. The energy is moderate (984), but the conditions are poor.

Sunday the 19th and Monday the 20th are more of the same: small, messy, and not worth paddling out for. The best you can hope for on those days is a marginal knee-high dribble, and that’s being generous.

Now, there’s a glimmer of hope on Tuesday the 21st. The morning is looking glassy with zero wind, and we’ve got a 4.3 ft swell from the SSW, with a 13-second period – that’s a proper groundswell. The combined energy is moderate (671), and the wave comment says “expect very good surf conditions.” This is your standout of the entire forecast. The SSW direction is a good match for the break’s optimum WSW swell, so it’s worth a look. The only downside is that the crowds here are “sometimes,” so you might have a few heads out, but it’s on a Tuesday, so it shouldn’t be too bad. This is the one to target.

After that, it’s a long, painful gap. Wednesday the 22nd through to the end of the month is a run of onshore winds and poor surf. The swell keeps coming, with some big numbers in the combined energy (like 1828 on the 27th and 2254 on the 28th), but the wind is always onshore or strong, leaving the waves chopped up. For the advanced surfers, the 29th shows a 7.5 ft swell from the NW with a 8-second period, but it’s onshore, so it’s more of a washing machine than a wave. The 31st morning has a 4.9 ft swell from the WNW with a 9-second period and a clean cross-off wind from the S, which is a better setup, but it’s a long way off and the swell direction isn’t ideal.

So, the bottom line: Tuesday the 21st morning is the only real call. Get on it if you can. The rest of the period is a write-off for paddle surfing – if you’re into kiting, the strong onshore winds and bigger swell later in the window might be more your scene.

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