15th Street Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, surfers, Rusty here. Let's take a look at what the next couple of weeks are serving up for us at 15th Street. Honestly, it's a bit of a flat spell for a while, so we're going to have to be patient. The first real chance of a wave doesn't show up until late in the run.

The water at 15th Street is sitting at a very warm 75° right now, which is 7° warmer than usual for this time of year. That's a real standout—a bathtub anomaly that you don't see every day.

For the first week and a half, it's a pretty bleak picture. From Wednesday the 12th right through to Monday the 24th, the forecast is filled with "poor surf conditions" or "marginal" reads. There's a long gap here with no real quality on offer. We're seeing small, weak swells—the combined energy is mostly in the 300s to low 700s (moderate energy at best), with heights barely scraping 3 ft. The wind is mostly onshore or cross-onshore from the west or southwest, and while it's often light, it's just not making anything worthwhile. Honestly, for most of this stretch, the setup looks more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer, with a consistent light cross-onshore breeze and small, choppy lines.

Things finally start to look a little more promising towards the end of the 16-day window, specifically on Thursday, August 27th. The morning session is the only thing that even gets a score above a 1. We've got a 4 ft swell from the southwest, with a period of 15 seconds—that's proper long-period groundswell, which means good energy and clean shape at a reef or point break. The wind is virtually calm from the WSW at just 3 mph, with an "on" wind state, meaning it's glassy. The combined swell energy is a solid 719 (moderate energy). That's the clear standout of the entire forecast. It's a long way out, so treat it with some caution, but if it lines up, Thursday morning the 27th looks like the only real session to get excited about. The afternoon holds up fairly well too with a 4 ft swell and 15-second period, but the wind picks up to 9 mph from the west, still onshore, so the morning is the clear winner. The days after that fade back into the marginal zone.

So, to sum it up: sit tight for about two weeks. Don't bother paddling out until we get close to that Thursday, August 27th morning. That's your best bet. Until then, the water's nice and warm for a swim.

Rusty.

Read more