States Avenue (Gas Chambers) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, it’s Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: the next couple of weeks are looking pretty grim for a paddle. We’ve got a stretch of small, weak, and messy surf that’s going to test your patience more than your pop-up.

The pattern is pretty locked in for a while. We’re looking at a whole lot of cross-shore and cross-onshore wind, which is going to chop up an already marginal swell. The energy is just not there. For the first ten days or so, we’re seeing combined energy values struggling to get past the 60s and 70s mark, which is weak. The swell heights are hovering around that 2ft to 3ft mark, and the periods are short, mostly in that 5-7 second range, so there’s just no push or shape to anything.

We start off on Wednesday the 5th with a cross-on breeze at 12 mph and a weak 3ft SSE swell. It’s just poor. Thursday the 6th isn't any better, and Friday the 7th keeps the same story going. The waves are there, but they’re lumpy and disorganized. It’s the kind of surf you look at from the car park and keep on driving.

The water temp is sitting at 76°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s something to note for that first surf check.

Now, there’s a tiny window early on Sunday the 9th morning. The wind swings to a cross-off and it cleans up, but the swell is still tiny at 3ft. It’s clean but weak. The same sort of thing happens on Tuesday the 11th morning, and then again on Wednesday the 12th morning we get a moment of glassy conditions with the wind dropping out completely. But again, the swell is a non-event at 2ft. These are just not worth suiting up for unless you’re desperate for a slide on a longboard.

The middle of the month, from the 13th to the 18th, is a real dead zone. Swell drops right off to 1ft. There’s just nothing doing. You’re better off finding something else to do.

The one slightly interesting blip comes at the very end of the window, around Wednesday the 19th. We see the swell pop up a touch to 4ft, and the energy gets a little more life to it, hitting 71. But it’s still a short-period south swell, and more importantly, the wind is going to be howling at 19 mph from the south. That’s going to make it lumpy and rough. This is not a surf forecast; this is a kite-surf forecast for States Avenue (Gas Chambers). It’s an exposed beach/jetty setup, and with that size and wind, it’s just going to be a messy, blown-out zone.

Honestly, there’s no standout day in this whole 16-day stretch. It’s a poor run, plain and simple. We’ll see a bit more energy on the 19th, but even then, the wind kills it. Keep the board in the car and the fins in the bag. This one’s a write-off.

Stay patient.

Rusty.

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