15th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, and I’ve got a look at the forecast for 15th Street.

It’s going to be a long, quiet stretch of days with very little to get excited about. The overall pattern is pretty flat and lackluster, with only a brief glimmer of something okay right at the very end.

The energy coming in is moderate at best, with the combined swell hitting around 525 (moderate wave energy) on the first day, but that comes with a catch. The water is sitting at 73°F, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year – a real anomaly of 5°F warmer.

Sunday morning, the 16th of August, you’ll see a clean 3ft groundswell out of the SSW with a long 15-second period. That’s a proper long-period groundswell, and those tend to wrap into points and reefs better than a straight beach. The wind is light offshore from the WNW at 9 mph, so the surface will be tidy. But the data says the surf quality is still questionable, so don’t expect anything firing.

From there, it’s a grind. The waves stay small – mostly between 2ft and 3ft – and the wind stays light, but it’s mostly onshore or cross-onshore. The swell period drops back under 15 seconds, and the energy stays weak, often under 400 (weak to moderate). This means weeks of poor to marginal conditions. There is a gap of over a week where nothing is recommended.

The only real standout comes right at the tail end of the window. On Monday afternoon, the 31st of August, the stars finally align a bit. The swell is still modest at 3ft from the SSW with a 14-second period, but the wind turns glassy – literally glassy, with a slight air movement at 3 mph. That means the surface will be completely clean and smooth. The forecast scores this as “expect good surf conditions.” It’s the only session in the whole 16 days that looks genuinely surfable. With long-period groundswell, expect good shape, but also expect longer lulls between sets at this beach-and-reef setup. And being a consistent spot with an "often" crowd rating, expect company.

If you’re a beginner, anything over 5ft is a push, so the small, glassy session on the 31st is your best bet.

For the rest of the flat spell, with the small waves and light cross-onshore breezes, the setup might look more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer.

Stay patient.

- Rusty

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