15th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, I'm Rusty. Let's have a look at what's comin' up for 15th Street.

Right off the bat, it's pretty quiet. The first chance for a paddle is Thursday the 13th of August, but honestly, the surf is small and the conditions are just okay. We've got a long period south-west groundswell pushing in, with periods hitting 16 seconds, so there's some deep water energy, but the swell height is tiny – only around 2ft to 3ft. The combined wave energy is weak to moderate (330 to 468), and while the wind is a light onshore breeze from the WSW, it's not glassy, and the forecast has a "marginal" feel to it.

We roll into Friday the 14th through Sunday the 16th with a similar theme. The swell stays small, mostly in the 2ft to 4ft range from the SSW, with long periods. The wind shifts to a light westerly breeze, staying onshore, which keeps things a bit bumpy. The combined energy picks up a touch, peaking at 742 on Saturday afternoon, but it's still not enough to get excited about. For a beach and reef break like 15th Street, that long period groundswell can make the waves wall up and break a bit straight, so you'll need to pick your peak. The water temp anomaly is within the average range for this time of year, so nothing wild there.

Monday the 17th into Tuesday the 18th, the wind starts to go cross-onshore from the WSW and SW, and the swell drops even further. The combined energy sinks back to the 400s, and with "poor surf conditions" flagged across the board, it's a 'stay at home' kind of couple of days.

Wednesday the 19th through the rest of the week is much the same story. We're stuck in a rut of small, weak SSW and SW swells, with periods still long but heights barely scraping 2ft to 3ft. The wind is mostly a light to gentle breeze, but it's either onshore or cross-onshore, so the wave quality is poor. The combined energy (around 297 to 532) is weak to moderate, and there are no standout days. Crowds are often a factor here, but honestly, with surf this small, you might have the place to yourself anyway.

Looking further out, from Saturday the 22nd of August right through to Friday the 28th, the surf gets even smaller. We're talking 2ft to 2ft from the SW with combined energy falling into a weak to moderate category (157 to 428). The wind stays light, mostly onshore or cross-onshore, but the wave state is constantly "poor surf conditions." There's a small uptick on the 23rd with a 19-second period, but at 2ft, it's just a long wait between tiny sets.

Honestly, the whole 16-day window is a bit of a flat patch. There's nothing that stands out as a good day to make a plan around. If you're desperate, the best of a bad bunch looks like Thursday the 13th and Friday the 14th first thing, when the swell is at its highest and the wind is lightest. But don't expect much. If the area had more consistent breaks, we could be more optimistic, but for 15th Street, this kind of dry spell is fairly normal.

Rusty.

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