Willow Creek Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab your board, let’s talk about what’s on the menu for Willow Creek.

The next couple of weeks are looking a bit slow to start, with a few fun windows scattered in. We’ll have some waiting to do, but there are a couple of days that look like they could be worth the paddle out. The water temp is sitting around 60°F, which is a touch cooler than average for this time of year, nothing crazy, but you might want the hood or a thicker suit.

First up, the coming weekend is pretty lackluster. Saturday the 8th has small, short-period swell and cross-shore winds, so it’s not really going to be worth your time. The swell energy is moderate, but the quality just isn't there. Then Sunday morning the 9th turns glassy with a little 3ft SSW swell, but it’s still small and a bit disorganized. It could be a fun one for a beginner on a foamie, but nothing to get excited about.

Monday the 10th sees a little bump in size, around 4ft, but the period drops to 10 seconds and the direction swings to the WNW. The morning is glassy, so it might offer a few clean, crumbly waves, but it's still small and not particularly powerful.

Then we hit a bit of a lull. Tuesday through Thursday looks pretty flat and weak, with just ankle-biters in the 1ft to 2ft range. The swell energy is moderate, but the waves just won’t have any push. You’d be fighting for scraps.

The real standout appears on Friday the 14th in the afternoon. The wind goes glassy and the swell builds a touch, with a clean 3ft SSW groundswell, and the energy jumps up to 653. That’s a solid bump in power. This looks like the best surf of the first week. The period is a very long 18 seconds, so this is proper groundswell from the south. Willow Creek is a reef, and this long-period swell should wrap in nicely. It’s a beginner-friendly wave, and with those clean conditions, it could be a lot of fun. Saturday the 15th morning looks good too with a 3ft SSW swell and glassy conditions. The energy is strong at 615. It's a little bigger, still clean, and should offer some nice rides. These two sessions look like the pick of the bunch for the first week.

The middle of the week, the 17th and 18th, gets a bit messier with onshore winds and poorer conditions, so it's a good time to do other things. Then the following weekend, from the 19th onwards, things get a little weird. We see some bigger, short-period WNW swell roll in. On Wednesday the 19th afternoon, it jumps to 8ft but with a period of only 6 seconds. That’s pure windswell, and with cross-shore winds, it’s going to be a mess. At that size and with that short period, this is more of a close-out and not a whole lot of fun. It’s getting too big for beginners for sure.

Thursday the 20th is similar, with a 7ft WNW swell in the afternoon, but again, it’s short-period junk. There’s some energy, but the quality will be poor. It gets a bit more interesting on Sunday the 23rd. There’s a bigger, longer-period swell mixing in, with the morning bump to 6ft and the period stretching to 8 seconds. The energy is very strong at 1014, which is the biggest reading in the whole forecast. This increase in period means more power, but at 6ft with that WNW direction, it could be a bit much for the beginner-friendly reef. It might be better for the more experienced crew. The morning winds are light, so it could offer some sizeable, clean, but powerful waves.

So, to sum it up: the first real standout is Friday afternoon the 14th, with that clean, long-period glassy surf. The second is the strong pulse on the morning of Sunday the 23rd, which is promising but further out and less certain.

There are a few long gaps with no good surf, particularly mid-week, but the good windows are worth the wait.

Later,
Rusty

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