Topaz Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's see what the ocean is giving us.

To be straight with you, this is a tough stretch. We've got a long, quiet period with nothing to really get your blood pumping for the next week and a half. The first real chance of a decent paddle doesn't show up until Tuesday, August 18th, and even then, it's on the small side. The whole forecast window is a grind of onshore and cross-onshore winds with tiny, weak swells. It's a real dry spell.

The first half of August is all about patience. From Saturday the 8th right through to the morning of Monday the 17th, the reports are all grim. The waves are tiny, between 1ft and 3ft, and the wind is almost always ruining it. We're seeing a lot of onshore and cross-onshore breeze with moderate speeds, creating choppy, bumpy surfaces. The combined swell energy is weak, with values mostly in the 100s to low 200s, which is just a sign of a tired, local wind-swell at best. The wave period is all over the place, from 13 seconds up to 19 seconds, which can mean straight, close-out waves at a beach break like Topaz Street. That bigger period is a tease, but without the height and clean wind, it's just a waste.

Now, we do have a couple of mornings that stand out. The best of the whole outlook is Tuesday, August 18th, and Wednesday, August 19th. On Tuesday morning, the wind goes light from the SSE, which is a clean offshore breeze for Topaz Street. The swell is a tiny 2ft from the SSW, but with a 16-second period it'll have a bit of push. The combined energy is a moderate 254. The report actually says "expect good surf conditions" and "clean". That's the best we're going to see. Wednesday morning is a similar story: a light SSE breeze, clean conditions, and a 2ft SSW swell with a 15-second period. It's small, but it will be clean and workable for a longboard or a funboard. The crowd situation at Topaz Street is listed as "often" busy, so for these tiny, clean windows, expect a few other desperate locals in the water.

Thursday the 20th and Friday the 21st mornings are still clean with a light offshore, but the swell drops to 2ft and the energy fades. It's "surfable" but very ordinary. After that, we're back into the wind-affected junk for the rest of the window.

The water temperature is about average for the time of year here, so no unexpected chill or warmth to worry about.

So, my call is simple. Don't even bother looking at the ocean until Tuesday, August 18th. If you're free that morning, get out there for a slow, clean session on the little waves. Wednesday morning is a decent backup. The rest of the time? Save your energy. It's a waiting game, but it won't be this poor forever.

Rusty.

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