The week ahead

When should you go?

Eight days for Surf City. Each day scored on the water, not on the sky — afternoon storms get their own line, because here they nearly always turn up.

Southport Wilmington Wrightsville Beach Surf City Swansboro Beaufort

Pick of the week

Friday is workable — 11 kt NNE. Best window 8am–6pm.

See it hour by hour Plan the run Full briefing

Today

Oct 16

Not a day to be out in. Wait it out.

Stay in

Wind

13kt

SSW

Seas

2.5ft

Short and steep

Best window

gone

too little daylight left

12a6anoon6p12a

4-second period — wind chop. 2.5 ft at this spacing rides like 5.1 ft.

Hour by hour Plan a run

Tomorrow

Oct 17Weekend

Rough through the daylight. Bigger hulls only.

Rough

Wind

12–18kt

Seas

3.7ft

Short and steep

Best window

none

no calm run in daylight

12a6anoon6p12a

4-second period — wind chop. 3.7 ft at this spacing rides like 8.1 ft.

Hour by hour Plan a run

Sunday

Oct 18Weekend

Not a day to be out in. Wait it out.

Stay in

Wind

19kt

NNE

Seas

5.8ft

Mixed

Best window

none

no calm run in daylight

12a6anoon6p12a

6-second period — neither chop nor clean swell.

Hour by hour Plan a run

Monday

Oct 19

Not a day to be out in. Wait it out.

Stay in

Wind

16kt

Seas

4.9ft

Mixed

Best window

none

no calm run in daylight

12a6anoon6p12a

8-second period — neither chop nor clean swell.

Hour by hour Plan a run

Tuesday

Oct 20

Only really workable 8am–3pm. Rough either side of it.

Rough

Wind

11kt

Seas

2.2ft

Mixed

Best window

8am–3pm

8 hrs · workable

12a6anoon6p12a

7-second period — neither chop nor clean swell.

Hour by hour Plan a run

Wednesday

Oct 21

Not a day to be out in. Wait it out.

Stay in

Wind

11kt

Seas

2.3ft

Short and steep

Best window

none

no calm run in daylight

12a6anoon6p12a

4-second period — wind chop. 2.3 ft at this spacing rides like 5.1 ft.

Hour by hour Plan a run

Thursday

Oct 22

Not a day to be out in. Wait it out.

Stay in

Wind

12kt

Seas

3.0ft

Short and steep

Best window

none

no calm run in daylight

12a6anoon6p12a

5-second period — wind chop. 3.0 ft at this spacing rides like 6.4 ft.

Hour by hour Plan a run

Friday

Oct 23

Comfortable 8am–6pm, and easy either side of it.

Workable

Wind

11kt

NNE

Seas

—ft

no wave model here

Best window

8am–6pm

11 hrs · workable

12a6anoon6p12a

Hour by hour Plan a run

Saturday

Oct 24Weekend

The models do not reach this far out for this spot.

No forecast yet

Nothing has been filled in for this day. The wind model runs about eight days out and the wave model about seven — beyond that we would be guessing, so we don’t.

Wind, gusts and thunder — NWS gridpoint forecast. Seas and period — Open-Meteo marine model. Tide — NOAA CO-OPS Hampstead (8657813). Daylight computed for Surf City.

A forecast eight days out is a shape, not a promise. The first three days are worth planning around; past that, watch the trend and check again. Sea state is a model, not a measurement — the wave model does not resolve the sounds or the ICW, so inshore days often show no seas at all. That is missing data, not flat water.