Willow Creek Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, crew, Rusty here. Let's be straight with you: the next couple of weeks look pretty average for our shores. We're dealing with a lot of cross-shore wind, which is going to keep things a bit lumpy and churned up. There's no major swell on the cards, just a persistent, modest pulse of south-southwest groundswell that will keep the lines fat and closed-out at times. Nothing here is going to have you calling in sick, but there might be a session or two worth grabbing if you're desperate.

The pick of the bunch for the near term looks like the Wednesday morning (August 19) session. We've got a clean 3.3ft of SSW swell with a solid 15-second period, a proper groundswell. The wind is still cross-shore, but it's light, a gentle breeze, so the surface should be a little less messy than the afternoon. Wave energy is moderate at 554. It's not going to be epic, but it's the most rideable conditions in the first stretch. That long period means sets will have some push, but at a beachie like this, they might also stand up and close out.

There's a real dead zone from around Friday the 21st through to Monday the 24th. The swell is all over the place, sometimes dropping to 1.6ft, other times it's a short-period 3.3ft and bigger. The wind is still cross-shore, but the energy is low and the wave quality is poor. Honestly, for a solid 4-5 days, I'd leave the board in the car.

Things start to look a little more interesting late in the month. On Friday afternoon, August 28, we see a jump in energy to 826, with a swell of 5.2ft, though it's from the WNW and only 9 seconds. That's short-period windswell, not the clean groundswell we want. The wind is a moderate cross-shore but it's stronger, 25 km/h.

The standout in the longer range is shaping up for the morning of Saturday, August 29. The energy is even stronger, hitting 852, with a 3.6ft SSW swell that has a nice 17-second period. That’s some proper long-period groundswell, which always has more punch and shape. The wind is forecast to be a moderate cross-shore at 12 mph. It’s still not glassy, but the wave quality looks marginally better. The period is over 15 seconds, so it's a very long swell, which might cause it to be a bit straight at the beach break, but it should offer more defined peaks than the junky stuff we've been looking at. It’s promising, but it's a week out, so we don't fully trust it yet.

The following Tuesday and Wednesday (September 1-2) bring moderate energy, but the winds get up a bit and the waves are still pretty ordinary. On the afternoon of Wednesday, September 2, we see a spike in height to 6.9ft, but it's a 6-second period WNW windswell. That's big, messy, and blown-out. That's not really even worth a paddle, to be honest. With that much cross-shore wind and a short, steep swell, it's going to be a washing machine. That setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

Overall, keep your expectations low. The surf will be here, but it won't be great. The only two windows I'd even look at are that Wednesday morning, August 19, and that promising Saturday morning, August 29. Go get some.

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