Tower Road Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right, folks. Rusty here, and I’ll level with you straight up: we’ve got a real dud on our hands for the next sixteen days. The outlook for the region is basically flat and frustrating. The wave energy is so weak that most days the combined energy struggles even to hit double figures, and when it does, it’s a paltry 35 or so. We’re looking at a long, empty run with barely a ripple worth paddling for.

Let’s start with the first spot that pops up, Tower Road. It’s a sandbar break fully exposed to the east-northeast, which doesn’t match the tiny swells we’re seeing from the southeast. The whole run kicks off on Sunday the 16th of August with a pathetic 2 ft swell from the SE at a laughable 3-second period – that’s pure wind chop, not surf. The wind is a cross-shore mess at 12 mph, and the combined energy is a weak 7. Water temp is hanging around 78°, which feels a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, but that’s the only interesting thing.

That Sunday afternoon scrapes up to 3 ft from the SSE (4 seconds, combined energy 17) with cleaner cross-offshore wind at 19 mph, but it’s still junk. Monday the 17th offers a tiny 2 ft swell with WNW winds giving a clean look, but the period is only 6 seconds – it’s just lumpy, weak chop. The trend continues: Tuesday morning drops to 1 ft, and we get a glassy morning on Wednesday the 19th with a 1 ft SE swell and a 10-second period, but the combined energy is only 34 – it’s barely enough to wobble a floaty. Thursday through the weekend is more of the same: knee-high slop, onshore or cross-shore winds, and combined energies in the teens and twenties.

The only moment that even raises an eyebrow is Thursday the 27th of August in the afternoon. The swell jumps slightly to 2 ft from the SE with a proper 11-second period, and combined energy hits 70 – that’s the highest we see. The wind goes glassy (0 mph from the NNW) and the water is clean. The wave comment even says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions” – which is the best this dumpster fire gets. That’s a 1 out of 10 day, folks. But even then, it’s tiny, and the southeast swell is coming right into the beach with that longer period, so it’ll probably be a straight closeout at Tower Road.

There’s a long gap of essentially no worthwhile surf from the start until that Thursday the 27th, and then the last few days of August and into the 31st are back to onshore junk, with combined energy dropping into the 20s and 30s. The wind is straight onshore for most of that final stretch, from the ENE or NE at 12–19 mph. Not a single day offers a clean 8 ft+ groundswell with offshore wind. If you’re desperate, that Thursday afternoon glass-off might give you a few grovelly 2 ft waves, but honestly, this setup looks far more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer – the consistent cross-shore winds and tiny swell are perfect for them.

Keep the boards in the car and the hopes low. Forecasts can change, but right now it’s a blank run. This is just how it goes here sometimes.

Rusty.

Read more