36th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s cut to the chase. The next couple of weeks at 36th Street? It’s a long, flat, and messy grind. Don’t get your hopes up for anything decent for a while.

The water is running about 76°F, which is a wild 6°F warmer than normal for this time of year. That’s a big deal. But you won't need more than a shorty, if that. The problem is the waves, or lack of them.

From Tuesday the 15th through to the 23rd, it’s a complete write-off. We’re looking at ankle-biters, mostly under 2ft, with the combined energy stuck in the low double digits, like 40 on Tuesday morning. The swell direction is messy, mostly from the east, with short periods of 5 to 7 seconds—just wind slop. The wind is consistently onshore or cross-onshore, so it’ll be lumpy and sectioned up. There’s a brief moment on the morning of Friday the 18th with a light cross-off wind that cleans it up, but the swell is a pathetic 0.7ft. Not worth the effort. Same deal for the afternoon of Sunday the 20th—a bit of cross-off wind but still just 2ft of weak, short-period junk.

Finally, on Monday the 21st, we see a pulse of energy, with the combined energy jumping to 135. Wave heights get up to 4ft, but it’s coming from the ENE with a period of only 6 seconds. That, mixed with moderate cross-shore winds, means it’ll be a jumbled-up mess. Not clean, not good. That trend continues into Tuesday the 22nd with fresh cross-onshore winds making things lumpy.

By the 24th, the swell drops back to 2ft and we get a glassy morning, but that’s about it. The energy is gone again. Another flat spell follows, with tiny 0.7ft to 1ft waves right through the 28th. Thursday the 25th morning has a strong cross-offshore wind (30 km/h) cleaning up the surface, but there’s just nothing to ride.

The one and only glimmer of hope in this entire forecast comes on the final day, Wednesday the 30th. We’ve got a proper pulse of groundswell showing up. The swell builds to 4ft in the morning and pushes to 5ft by the afternoon, coming from the ENE with a period of 9 seconds. The combined energy skyrockets to 204 in the morning, then a strong 290 in the afternoon. That’s some real energy. The wind is light and cross-off in the morning, cleaning it up, and light cross-shore in the afternoon. This is the standout of the whole period, but it’s over a week away, so it’s promising, not a guarantee. 36th Street is a beach/jetty break, and with the swell coming from ENE and the optimum direction being NE, it’ll have some push. At 5ft, it’s too big for beginners, but for the intermediates, this could be the one. Crowds are possible, so be ready for that.

For everything else before that, the setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, honestly.

Rusty, out.

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