States Avenue (Gas Chambers) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, your local surf check, and I've been staring at the charts for a while. Let’s be straight – this is going to be a tough couple of weeks for us around here at States Avenue (Gas Chambers). We've got a long dry spell ahead, so I'm not going to sugarcoat it.

The first real pulse of energy we see is on Thursday morning, September 10th. We’re looking at a 5ft SSW groundswell, but it’s paired with a solid 12 mph cross-offshore breeze. The combined energy is moderate at 228, but the swell period is a short 6 seconds, so don't expect it to hold its shape. It’s rideable but nothing special.

After that, the surf drops right off. We slide into a long stretch of flat, weak junk from Friday through to the middle of the next week. The swell is consistently under 3ft, with onshore winds and short periods. Combined energy values barely hit three digits, often sitting in the 20s and 30s. Honestly, this is a "stay at home and wax your board" kind of period. For week one, that Thursday morning is your only real shot, and even that’s a marginal call.

Looking deeper into the run, we get a bit of a tease. On Tuesday, September 22nd, the energy starts building. The afternoon sees a 5ft E swell with a combined energy of 542 – that’s a proper healthy push of power. But here’s the killer – it’s a 12-15 mph onshore breeze, making it a choosey, choppy mess. The period is still short (8 seconds), so it’ll be lumpy and hard to connect on. By Wednesday the 23rd, we’ve got a 5ft ESE groundswell with a longer 10-second period, but the wind is a stiff 19 mph onshore. The combined energy is 386, so there’s grunt there, but with that wind, the face will be a washing machine. This stuff really gets blown out. Only boat owners or the hardiest paddlers will be out, and they won't be having fun.

The real standout, if you can call it that, is probably Thursday afternoon, September 24th and Friday morning, September 25th. The swell drops a touch, but the energy is still moderate (200-160), and while the wind in the morning is still a problem, the period gets up to 10 seconds. It won’t be glassy, but the swell direction (E) is directly from the optimum, so if there's a lull in the wind, the frames could be half-decent. Even so, it’s a dice roll.

To be honest, there’s no true gem in this 16-day run. The current water temp feels about average for this time of year, no real anomaly. Given the consistent onshore wind and the messy swell, this break is looking more like a kiteboarding spot for the next couple of weeks than a paddle-friendly joint. Hang in there, the forecasts might shift.

Rusty.

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