15th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let's check the charts for 15th Street (beach and reef). Honesty, for the next week and a half you're lookin' at a pretty flat spell. There's some swell in the water, but it's just not coming together right. The first real chance of anything decent comes around Sunday the 19th of July, but even then the surf quality is marginal at best. This stretch of poor surf is going to drag on for a solid 8 or 9 days. The water temp is sitting right where you'd expect for this time of year, nothing unusual.

Tuesday the 14th and Wednesday the 15th bring in small waves with a long period swell from the SSW/SW around 2 ft to 3 ft. The wind is onshore or cross-onshore though, so expect bumpy, messy lines. The combined energy is weak – in the 200 to 300 range – and it's just not worth paddling out for. Thursday the 16th sees a little bump to 4 ft from the west, but the period is short at 8 seconds and the wind is choppy. Same story right through the weekend. By Sunday the 19th there's a glimmer of hope with a slightly better swell at 3 ft from the SSW and a 17-second period, but it's still onshore wind and the energy is only moderate, so it stays marginal.

Now, the week following, starting around the 22nd of July, things start to change. The swell builds significantly. By Wednesday the 22nd of July we're looking at a solid 6 ft to 7 ft SSW groundswell, with a nice long period of 15-16 seconds. The combined swell energy jumps up into the 1800-2000 range, which is proper moderate. The wind is a bit of a bummer, still cross-onshore from the SW, so the surface won't be glassy. It's a solid beach break option but those messy conditions mean it's more for the experienced crew – it'll be too big and powerful for beginners.

The standout window is from Thursday the 23rd to Saturday the 25th of July. We've got a solid 7 ft to 8 ft swell from the south with 14-15 second periods. The energy readings are over 2000 and up to 2300 points, so there's plenty of punch. The wind finally swings offshore, WSW or W at only 6 to 9 mph, which is perfect. The wave heights are over 6 ft, so this is expert territory. This is a serious south groundswell running for a few days with clean conditions. It's a long-range call, so not set in stone, but it looks like the best bet by a mile.

After that, the swell drops back down a bit. By Sunday the 26th we're looking at a smaller, but still long-period 2 ft to 3 ft swell with glassy, light wind conditions. It's not a standout, but a nice end to the run.

So for now, get ready for a long flat spell. But keep your eye on that 23rd to 25th of July window. That's the one.

- Rusty

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