Hurricane Isaias Surf Recap

Hurricane/Tropical Storm Isaias came rode its way up the East Coast this past weekend and into Monday, bringing with it an early surfing opportunity for all along the coast. We don’t often see Hurricanes this close to shore this early in the year. To go along with the anything goes theme of 2020, this year is the first year that nine tropical storms have formed before August 1st.

Brief Rundown of Isaias

Isaias formed off the coast of Africa on July 23rd and was eventually upgraded to a Tropical Storm July 30th. Isaias made its first landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in the Bahamas before downgrading back to a Tropical Storm and trekking up the East Coast.

Isaias paralleled Florida throughout the weekend, before heading towards South Carolina. Isaias brushed by Charleston on Monday. The storm regained strength and became Category 1 hurricane again, before making landfall in Ocean Isle Beach, NC on August 3rd.

Isaias continued his march up the East Coast and is currently sitting as a post-tropical cyclone in Quebec, Canada.

Isaias Surf Recap

It was a long week watching the storm track towards Charleston. We were very lucky the storm’s center was east of Charleston and eventually made landfall north of Myrtle beach.

We closed down for Monday, as the surf was way too big and dangerous for lessons and beginners. As the storm passed to the north Monday evening, winds went offshore and we saw the surf clean up. About as big and as perfect as Folly can get with some crazy golden hour light as the storm tracked north.

On Tuesday, we had fun leftover swells, but the offshore wind quickly beat down the size. The conditions were perfect for adults learning to surf and some fun challenging waves for kids. The storm moved all the way up the east coast Monday night and Tuesday. Almost everyone saw windows of fun surf and some places saw some big, crazy surf. 

Hurricane season is off to a crazy start, no doubt! We love the epic surf we get from these types of systems, but, fingers crossed, we do not see any real devastation to coastal communities on the East Coast and in the Caribbean.