36th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you: the next couple of weeks are a real mixed bag, and for a lot of it, you’ll be better off doing something else. But hang in there, because there is one proper window that looks like it’ll fire.

Right off the bat, the opening stretch is flat-out poor. From the 24th through the 30th of August, we’re looking at dribbly, weak surf, mostly under 1.5ft. The swell energy is pathetic—we’re talking single and low double-digit readings (23 to 97). Winds are all over the shop, mostly cross or cross-on, and that Thursday the 27th has a risk of thunderstorms with a messy, chopped-up ocean. Honestly, there’s nothing here worth paddling out for. The water temp is a notable 77.2°F and it’s running about 3.8°F warmer than usual for this time of year, so if you’re going in for a swim, it’ll be pleasant, but the surf is a no-go.

We roll into the 31st and the 1st of September. There’s a hint of life—the swell energy starts climbing on the 31st (70 to 128) but the wave heights are still tiny, 1ft to 1.3ft. The morning of the 31st has a gentle offshore, which cleans it up, but it’s just not enough to get excited about. The 1st is blown out by a moderate to fresh cross-onshore breeze and the surf stays poor.

Now, here’s where things start to get interesting. The 2nd of September sees the swell energy jump into the moderate range (265 to 379) as a longer-period southeast swell starts to fill in (13-14 seconds). Wave heights creep up to 2.5ft to 3ft. There’s a bit of cross-off wind, keeping it clean, but it’s still marginal.

Then comes the window you’ve been waiting for. Thursday the 3rd of September is the standout of the whole run. The morning kicks off with a clean 3.9ft SE swell at 16 seconds, and the energy is strong at 697. Winds are light offshore from the northwest, so the faces should be glassy. Then the afternoon is the real deal: the swell jumps to 5.2ft, the period is a solid 15 seconds, and the energy goes through the roof at 2358. That’s strong, powerful groundswell. The wind stays offshore, moderate but clean. This is the day for experienced surfers—5.2ft with that much push is no joke, and it’ll be too much for beginners. The direction is right out of the southeast, which matches what this break wants. This is your best bet, no question.

The 4th of September still has some decent swell, around 3.6ft to 3.9ft from the southeast, but the winds are stronger and more cross-off, and the energy has dropped back (470 to 622). It’s still surfable, but it won’t have the same magic as the day before.

After that, the plug gets pulled. From the 5th through the 8th, the swell fades away quickly. Heights drop back under 3ft, the period shortens, and energy readings fall off a cliff. The 6th has a few clean but tiny waves, and by the 8th, it’s almost flat. The 16-day outlook finishes on a whimper.

So, if you’ve got flexibility, lock in that Thursday the 3rd. It’s far enough out that the forecast could shift, but right now it looks like the one proper standout. Everything else is either too small or too messy to get too worked up about.

Catch you down the beach.

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