St. Augustine Beach Wave Cam

7:55 am:   Merry Christmas!   Slightly smaller surf starts out this Christmas Day.   Wave size @ 1.5 to 2.5 feet.  Light NNW winds allowing for semi-glassy surface conditions early.   The  marine forecast is calling for N winds today . Our local buoy is currently reading 3.6 feet at 9 seconds, down considerably from yesterdays 7.5 feet @ 9 seconds.   The water temperature is measured offshore at 63.7 degrees early this morning.  You can see the ocean live by viewing The Surf Station Cam Page here.

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8:55 am:   Early morning photos are up box #1 and on second look I’m going to bump the call up to 2 to 3 feet.  Seeing some waist to chest high waves.  It’s hard to tell in the photos as no one is out.   The wind is clocking a little more sideshore.  Going from  sideoffshore to sideonshore so the form may be / will likely be get bumped up / semi-choppy as the day goes on…

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Reporter: T. Strange 

6:50 pm:    Checking the surf just before dark…   There are some fun looking waves pushing in on this Christmas Eve.   Plenty of swell as you can see in this evening surf report video just posted.

     And this will do it until early-early in the morning…  over and out... .

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Dean extended the Surf Station Surf Forecast through the end of 2024 to the start of the New Year, calling for surf through the end of the year with a day or two of long period ground swell (with offshore winds) to end 2024 and start 2025.

Here is a good link to accurately track real-time, near-shore wave height/period/direction and water temperature just off the NE Florida coast: the Fernandina Beach buoy. Located upstream (to the north) and closer to the coast than the St. Augustine buoy, it’s a good indicator of fluctuations in NE Florida surf conditions influenced by winter cold fronts. Here is an overview of a large-scale, real-time wind map to track the shifting winds associated with the fronts and lows that produce our waves.