Thurso Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here, lookin' at the Thurso Beach forecast. Honest truth? It's a pretty bleak run for the next two and a half weeks. The scores are low across the board, so we're not talking about any classic days. The water's sitting around 55°, which is just about normal for this time of year, so no surprises there.

The combined swell energy is weak for most of the run, with the biggest reading being a moderate 210 (kW/m) on Tuesday morning, the 14th. That's a 2ft swell from the west with a 12-second period, which is a decent enough groundswell, but it's coming in with a cross-offshore breeze from the ESE. That makes it clean, but it's small and the whole setup is just "very ordinary". Not one to rearrange your day for.

From there, it's a long, long stretch of nothing. We've got a gap of poor surf conditions from Wednesday the 15th all the way through to Saturday the 26th of July. That's nearly two weeks of tiny waves, onshore wind, chop, and lumpy conditions. The wind is mostly cross-on from the NW or NNW, and the swell is either too small or it's short-period windswell. The energy levels drop right off, mostly under 100 (kW/m), so it's a real struggle.

The only glimmer in the whole 16-day window comes on Sunday the 26th of July in the afternoon. The wind swings to a glassy SW, and the swell picks up to 4ft from the west, with a 10-second period and a combined energy of 306 (kW/m). That's moderate energy, and with glassy conditions, it'll be perfection. The break is a beach, so with that longish period, it might be a bit straight, but with no wind, it'll be the cleanest wave of the whole forecast. The numbers say "expect good surf conditions" – that's your standout, but it's two weeks away, so treat it as a promising hope rather than a solid plan.

After that, Monday the 27th and Tuesday the 28th have a bit of swell (3ft), but it's cross-on and choppy again, so it's back to the same old story. The very end of the run on Wednesday the 29th has a long-period (14-second) but tiny 1ft swell and a clean offshore wind, but it's just too small to paddle.

Honestly, if you're a kite surfer, the strong winds and lumpy, messy conditions on the 17th, 18th, and 22nd might be more your thing than a paddle surfer's. For the rest of us, it's a waiting game for that glassy Sunday afternoon in two weeks.

Rusty.

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