36th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. I’ll level with you—this 16-day outlook for 36th Street is a real bummer. There’s no top-tier swell, no magic window, just a whole lot of flat and messy days.

The first glimmer of anything surfable doesn’t pop up until September 2nd, and even then, it’s weak. The issue is a persistent lack of decent swell; most of the time we’re sitting under 2 ft of wave height, and the combined wave energy tags along under 60 (weak energy) for much of the run, except for a brief period at the end of August and start of September where it hits moderate readings around 118 and 139. But those spikes come with ugly, choppy conditions.

Water temp is running much warmer than usual right now—79°, which is over 5° above average for this time of year. That’s notable.

The near-term is a total write-off. Saturday August 22 is a washout: light rain, a tiny 1.0 ft ESE swell, and onshore wind making it a no-go. Sunday August 23 is clean but the swell is barely 0.7 ft, and that 12-second period is too long for that size—you’ll be sitting on your board watching nothing show up. The whole first week is the same story: minimal size, clean offshore mornings that don’t matter when there’s no wave to surf.

You get a slight bump around August 30 and 31: swell hits about 3 ft on Sunday morning and 4 ft on Monday morning (August 31), but the period is awful (4-6 seconds), it’s wind-affected, and the water looks lumpy. That 3 ft on the 30th is 5-second period from ENE—basically pure wind chop. Not worth paddling out.

September 2nd morning is the only session that earns a low “surfable” score: clean with a light offshore breeze, 2 ft from SE at 12 seconds (decent period). Combined energy is 164 (moderate). But at just 2 ft, it’s a tiny, weak wave. For an intermediate break like this, that’s maybe a few knee-high rides for the patient surfer. It’s the best of a bad bunch, but that’s not saying much.

From there, it all fades back into messy onshore wind and flat waves straight through to September 6th.

Bottom line: September 2 morning is your only real shot, and it’s a quiet, small-wave session. This is a tough stretch for 36th Street. No guarantees, but forecasts can shift—right now though, I’d leave the board at home.

Rusty.

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