72nd Place Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at the 16-day picture for 72nd Place. Honestly, it's a tough stretch ahead. We've got a solid run of mostly poor quality surf and messy winds that are going to keep things frustrating. The water is currently sitting at 72°F, which is a whopping 5°F warmer than usual for this time of year—that's a very strong anomaly, making for unusually warm water, but the trade-off is the surf isn't cooperating.

The pattern starts with no good options. From Monday the 24th through Friday the 28th of August, everything is scored as poor. We're seeing small swell with cross-onshore or onshore wind, making for choppy, unsurfable conditions. The combined swell energy is only moderate, like 267 (Monday afternoon) up to 345 (Tuesday afternoon), which is decent but completely wasted with the wind. It's just a messy few days.

We finally hit a very brief glimmer of hope on Saturday the 29th of August. The morning session is the first thing in the whole outlook that's not listed as outright poor. We get a 1.0ft SSW swell moving on a very long 17-second period, with light cross-onshore wind from the SSW at 6 mph. The water temperature is still that unusually warm 72°F. The combined energy jumps up to a strong 554, but the wave comment says "marginal surf forecast or questionable tide conditions." That long period is a positive for shape, but at a sheltered beach break, a 17-second groundswell can break too straight. This is the best on offer, but it's not a standout by any means.

From Saturday afternoon through to Sunday, September 7th, it's back into poor conditions. On Tuesday morning, September 1st, we see another "marginal" call with a 4ft S swell and 12-second period, but again with cross-onshore wind. The pattern is broken up by a few more "marginal" calls on Saturday the 5th of September (morning) and Tuesday the 8th of September (morning), with similar small swell and light winds, but nothing consistently good forms up. The combined energy does spike to 839 on Friday afternoon, September 4th, but that's with onshore wind ruining it.

To pick the one true standout, I'd have to point to Saturday morning, August 29th. It's the first relievable window after a full week of no-nos, with the strongest combined energy of all the "marginal" slots at 554, on a long-period SSW swell. It's not perfect, but it's the only day that warrants a paddle. Just keep expectations in check. For the entire rest of the 16 days, the surf is largely unrideable. When it's like this for days on end, you just have to wait for the forecast to change.

Rusty.

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