Thurso East Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s talk about what’s coming down the pike. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but there’s a couple of windows that’ll get the blood pumping.

The first real action kicks off on Thursday, the 9th of July. The morning session is where it’s at. We’re looking at a 4ft swell rolling in from the west, with a period of 9 seconds. The combined energy is sitting at a solid moderate level (214), and with a light breeze blowing off the land, it’s going to be clean. That’s a good sign for a wave that’s got some push. The water temp here? It’s about what you’d expect for this time of year, so nothing to worry about on that front.

Into the afternoon, the wind swings around to the northeast and gets a little cross-onshore, so it’ll get a bit bumpy. The swell ticks up to 4ft, but the quality drops off. Thursday morning is the clear standout for this first part of the forecast.

The weekend, from the 10th, looks pretty ordinary. The wind turns onshore and the swell drops right off. You’ll see a bit of 4ft groundswell on Friday afternoon with a long 11-second period, but the wind is cross-onshore, ruining any chance of a clean wave. Saturday and Sunday are small and weak, with the energy dropping into the double digits (66 and 62). Sunday morning actually goes glassy, but the swell is only 2ft, so it’s really just a paddler’s dream.

Now, Monday the 13th and Tuesday the 14th are a real tale of two days. Monday is small and weak, barely worth a mention. But Tuesday morning is a proper highlight. We get a 4ft groundswell from the west-northwest, with a period of 11 seconds, and the combined energy jumps back up to 350 – that’s good, energetic stuff. The wind is offshore from the east-southeast, giving us a clean, groomed face. This is the best of the bunch for the entire outlook. The afternoon stays cross-offshore, but the swell drops a touch.

After that, it’s a long, slow grind. From Wednesday the 15th right through to the 24th, it’s mostly small, weak, and blowing onshore. The swell tries to build again around the 22nd and 23rd, with a monster 7ft to 8ft west-northwest groundswell. That’s a serious amount of water, with the combined energy hitting massive four-digit figures (2223 and 1355). But the wind is howling from the northwest at 15-18 mph, straight onshore. It’s going to be a messy, blown-out mess. At that size and with the wind, this setup at Thurso East is really only for the experts, and even then, it’s going to be a battle. The wind is so strong, it might actually be more interesting for the kite crew than for us paddle surfers.

So, to sum it up: your best bet is Thursday morning the 9th of July, and the absolute standout is Tuesday morning the 14th of July. Don’t hold your breath for the rest of it.

Rusty.

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