Tamarack Ave. Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s cookin’ for the next couple weeks.

Well, I gotta be straight with you – this is a tough one. The whole 16-day window at Tamarack Ave. (beach and jetty) is looking pretty grim. We’re not talking about a few days of flatness; we’re talking about a full, solid stretch of nothing worth paddling out for from now all the way through to the end of the period. The first time we even see a hint of something that’s not a total write-off isn’t until Friday, August 14th, and even then, it’s just barely hanging on. Before that, it’s all poor surf conditions with cross-onshore breezes, mostly from the W or WSW, leaving the water choppy and messy. The swell is tiny, barely scraping 3 ft at best, with a combined swell energy that sits in the low-to-mid hundreds (326 up to 440), which is weak. The water temperature is a whopping 76°, which is 8° warmer than normal – that’s very unusual, but it doesn’t help when there’s no waves.

Then, from Friday, August 14th through Sunday, August 16th, we get a slight lift. The surf is still marginal, but there’s a little more energy in the water. The combined swell energy climbs into the 500s and 700s (538 to 752), which is moderate wave energy. The swell height creeps up to about 4 ft from the SSW, with a period around 16 seconds. That’s a long-period groundswell, which means better shaped waves, but it’s still cross-onshore, and the wind is light, so it’ll be wind-rippled and less than perfect. For a spot that’s exposed to the W, and with the swell coming from the SSW, it’s not the ideal direction. This is a beach and jetty setup, so the long period might make it break a bit straight, but the light wind might keep it rideable for the advanced crew. The crowds are often there, so you’ll have company. Don’t expect a standout, but if you’re desperate, the Saturday morning, August 15th, with 3 ft and that moderate energy (654), might be the best of a bad lot. Still, it’s a poor window.

After Sunday, August 16th, it drops right back off. The rest of the week into the following week sees the energy fall back to the 200s and 300s, with heights dropping to 1 ft, and the wind staying mostly cross-onshore or onshore. It’s a long, quiet stretch. Even the swell on the 22nd of August has a period of 21 seconds, which is very long, but with only 1 ft of height, it’s a non-event.

Honestly, there’s no standout session here. The setup is more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddler with the steady cross-onshore winds, but for a regular surfer, this is a long blank run. The overall pattern is just a whole lot of nothin’.

Rusty.

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