The South Jetty Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it. The forecast period kicks off Monday the 20th of July, and straight up, I gotta be honest with you – the next week and a half is looking pretty flat and grim for The South Jetty. There’s a long stretch of tiny, weak, and messy surf with cross-onshore winds messing things up. The first real glimmer of anything decent doesn’t show up until Thursday the 23rd.

The Overall Pattern
We’re starting with a period of very small surf. From Monday the 20th through to Wednesday the 22nd, we’re looking at ankle-to-knee high slop, with swell heights barely hitting 1 ft to 5 ft. The combined swell energy is weak, sitting mostly between 21 and 127, which is nothing to write home about. Winds are a problem – cross-onshore or onshore most of the time, making it choppy and bumpy. On Wednesday the 22nd, the swell does push up to 5 ft in the morning, and that energy jumps to 276, but it’s still a messy cross-shore wind with a cross-chop. By Wednesday afternoon, the swell hits 8 ft with a solid energy reading of 1075, but it’s still cross-shore and lumpy.

The Best on Offer – Thursday the 23rd
Honestly, the standout window is Thursday the 23rd. The wind finally swings around to the north in the morning, giving us a clean cross-offshore breeze. The swell drops back to 3 ft from the SSE with a period of 8 seconds, but the energy is a moderate 103. It’s small, but it’ll be clean. Then Thursday afternoon gets even better – the wind goes glassy, dead calm from the NE at 3 mph. Swell is 3 ft from the SSE, period 8 seconds, energy 86. That’s the pick of the whole forecast. It’s not big, but it’ll be smooth and ridable. The water temperature is 77°, which is 4° warmer than normal – that’s much warmer than usual for this time of year, so you’ll be comfortable in a spring suit or boardies.

The Rest of the Run
After Thursday, it’s back to small, weak, and messy. Friday the 24th through the end of July is mostly 1 ft to 2 ft surf with cross-onshore or onshore winds, and energy readings dropping into the 30s and 40s. Sunday the 26th is similar. There’s a brief cleaner moment on the 28th (Tuesday morning) with a 2 ft SSE swell and cross-offshore wind, but it’s still tiny. The 29th (Wednesday morning) also has a clean cross-offshore breeze with 2 ft SSE swell, but again, it’s small.

Late Forecast – First Week of August
August starts with a fresh cross-shore on the 1st, small and lumpy. Sunday the 2nd sees a slight bump: 4 ft in the morning from the S, period 6 seconds, energy 113, but it’s cross-shore with ripples. By afternoon, it’s 5 ft from the S (energy 206), but cross-onshore makes it choppy. The final decent window is Tuesday the 4th of August. Morning has a clean cross-offshore breeze from the west with 3 ft SSE swell, energy 62. Then Tuesday afternoon, the wind goes offshore from the WNW at 16 mph, with 3 ft SSE swell – that’s clean and offshore, but still small. This is a long-range call, so temper your expectations.

Bottom Line
If you’ve got a longboard or a foamie, Thursday the 23rd afternoon is your best bet – glassy, clean, and small but fun. The South Jetty is a beach/jetty setup, so when the swell gets over 5 ft like on Wednesday the 22nd, it’s going to be too much for beginners and better left to the experienced crew. For the rest of the time, it’s mostly a wait-and-see game. Don’t expect much until that Thursday window.

Rusty.

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