As we near the end of August and inch closer to the peak of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, it's interesting to point out that we've currently only gotten through the E storm, while forecasters had us in flat-out panic mode just a month ago predicting one of the most active and dangerous seasons that would ever be recorded. Womp womp. Well, so far August delivered only one named storm, and it was never a threat to make landfall along the eastern seaboard from start to finish. Ernesto had promise from a wave-making perspective, and did in fact deliver a fun respite from the minuscule summer conditions we'd been experiencing to that point, but ultimately it was a short-lived tropical swell, and not really in sync with local tides and winds. The early morning highs made things really deep and sluggish, and onshore winds created sloppy afternoons. The swell also coincided with a weekend, so the crowds were at a maximum.
But overall, August has been pretty quiet in ECFL with only the small and gutless trade swells to play on. There have been some really beautiful mornings with knee-thigh sized zippers rolling through, but the small size and lack of power had them mostly breaking in the rock zones in my neighborhood. There are a few high tide friendly spots in town, but unfortunately I'm not the only one who knows about them... it seems most of the Orlando surfers are clued-in though! I don't think we're going to get much more than a couple sessions of knee-slappers for the rest of August, but I'm confident there will be better days ahead as we get into September and October.
There could easily be four or five more storms that send waves to the east coast this season. Historically, about two-thirds of all Atlantic hurricane activity occurs between August 20th and October 10th. So we're about to be smack dab in the middle of that. Hopefully, damage and destruction will be minimal, but the surf plentiful. If you want to score a session on the space coast, hit me up, it's been super fun surfing with friends old and new this summer, and I'm looking forward to continuing that trend. Keep your eyes on the surf reports and tropical updates, there's a very good possibility that this is just the calm before the storm!
The August gallery is below. If we get more surf days, I'll add more photos. Hope you're surfing where you are.
AUGUST 2024 GALLERY
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