Salmon Creek Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on offer at Salmon Creek over the next couple of weeks.

Right off the bat, I gotta be straight with you – this stretch is looking pretty grim. The swell is going to be running, but the quality just isn't there for a decent paddle session. The water is sitting at 60°F which feels a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, but that's about the only upside.

We kick things off on Tuesday the 18th of August. There's a 3ft SSW groundswell rolling in with a long 16-second period, pushing a moderate amount of energy (516). The wind is a light W breeze, blowing straight onshore. It's surfable if you're desperate, but it's marginal at best, with questionable tide conditions. Not what we're after.

Wednesday the 19th is a bit of a tease. The morning shows a 3ft SW groundswell (14 seconds) and a lighter W wind, offering a similar energy level (611). Again, it's marginal. The afternoon, however, is a write-off. The wind swings WNW and picks up to 12 mph, staying onshore, and the quality drops out completely. The swell is still there, but the conditions are poor.

Thursday the 20th and Friday the 21st are a mess. The wind is consistently onshore from the WNW, and while the swell hangs around 3ft, the period drops to 11 seconds and is all over the place. By Friday afternoon, we see a 6ft WNW windswell with a shockingly short 6-second period (327 energy). That's not a wave you want to be paddling into; it's junky, choppy, and basically unsurfable. Honestly, this setup looks way more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The weekend is more of the same. Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd see a mix of light winds, but they're cross-onshore, creating small wind ripples across the face. The swell is a weak 4ft WNW windswell with a short 7-8 second period. The energy is low (342-436), and it's just messy.

The start of the new week, Monday the 24th, has a tiny 2ft SW groundswell with a very long 18-second period (361 energy). The wind is light and cross-shore, so there might be a brief window of semi-clean lines, but the size is tiny. It's a marginal call.

From there, we drift into a long stretch of poor conditions. The whole week of the 25th through the 31st of August is a washout. The swell stays small, between 2ft and 6ft, but the wind is almost always onshore from the WNW, getting up to 16 mph in the afternoons. The energy levels are moderate (341-711), but with that onshore wind, it's just blown-out, lumpy junk. The period on the 27th drops to 8 seconds, and while the 29th and 30th see a return of 16-17 second groundswell, the onshore wind ruins it completely.

The only hint of something better comes on Sunday the 30th of August. The morning shows a 3ft SSW groundswell, a long 16-second period, and a very light cross-onshore breeze from the W at only 3 mph. The energy is moderate (500) and the report calls it "marginal" but with a score of 2 out of 10 – the best we've seen in a while. It's not a stand-out, but if you're super keen, that morning window might offer a few clean, rideable waves before the wind cranks up again in the afternoon.

The first few days of September are a repeat of the same story: small swell, onshore wind. A blank run like this is normal for the area when the wind parks itself in the wrong direction. It tends not to stay this poor forever, but this forecast is a tough one to swallow.

Rusty.

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