Folly Surf
FOLLY BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINAAmerica / New York

Surf Outlook

NWS regional surf forecast ↗
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Today · current forecast

FOLLY INDEX Modeled surf potential
—/ 100
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TODAY’S BEST WINDOWChecking daylight hours…
REGIONAL BREAKING SURF
— ft

NWS · Charleston County beaches, including Folly

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Rip current risk (NWS): —
NEARSHORE GUIDANCE
—ft— s peak period
Hourly guidance loading
Next 24 hours · ETSignificant wave height
NOAA nearshore forecastWaiting for the latest model cycle
NEXT TIDE—
Tide curve loading

NOAA · Folly River North

LOCAL WIND
— mph

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OFFSHORE WAVES
— ft

— waves

WAVE PERIOD
— s

Dominant · Edisto buoy

Waiting for observation

PRIMARY SWELL
— ft

Waiting for swell data

AIR
—°F

Modeled at Folly Beach

OFFSHORE WATER
—°F

Edisto buoy

Edisto buoy 41004 ↗41 nautical miles southeast of Charleston
— ft— s—Waiting for observationUnavailable

Drive to Folly

Live travel times to the beach

Downtown Charleston

Marion Square

— minutesEstimate unavailable
Not connectedDirections ↗

Mount Pleasant

Towne Centre

— minutesEstimate unavailable
Not connectedDirections ↗

West Ashley

Avondale · Savannah Hwy / Magnolia Rd

— minutesEstimate unavailable
Not connectedDirections ↗

Live estimates require a connected traffic provider.

Colours compare current traffic with the provider’s baseline.

SC 511 incidents & cameras ↗
Traffic provider not connectedTerms · Privacy

Extended forecast

Offshore wave height · local wind · up to 16 days

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NWS regional breaking-surf range loading.

Hourly forecast

Offshore waves & local wind · All times Eastern

Wave height Wind speed
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All times Eastern

Tides

NOAA

Tides for your selected day

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NOAA · Folly River North

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Finding a consistent two-hour daylight outlook for your selected area.

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Current Wave Mix

NOAA · Edisto buoy 41004 ↗

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Times shown in Eastern.

BEHIND THE FORECAST

Sources & methods

Folly Surf is a free, non-commercial project using publicly available environmental data and licensed services. Our rating formula is openly published. Source data and camera imagery remain subject to their providers’ licences and attribution requirements.

Folly Index

The Folly Index starts with nearshore wave height and peak period, then applies one combined wind and gust response. The provisional period factor blends our earlier curves equally, giving partial credit to shorter periods and reaching full credit at thirteen seconds. Calm wind cannot make up for weak waves. Bands are Low (0–19), Marginal (20–39), Fair (40–59), Promising (60–79) and Standout (80–100). These describe the modeled setup. Incomplete wind inputs produce a possible score range instead of a grade. Read the formula and band definitions.

The formula is experimental and has not been calibrated against observations of breaking waves at Folly. NOAA already models nearshore wave transformation; this score does not predict whether individual waves will peel or close out.

Waves & observations

NWS Charleston provides regional breaking-surf and beach-hazard guidance. NOAA NWPS supplies nearshore wave height and peak period; Open-Meteo supplies offshore waves, swell and local weather. Wave heights describe the highest third of waves at their source location.

Edisto buoy 41004 measures waves and water temperature about 41 nautical miles southeast of Charleston.

Wind & tides

Directions show where wind and waves come from. Wind labels use an approximate southeast-facing shoreline. Session windows compare two consecutive daylight hours using the Folly Index. If a complete index cannot be calculated, the window uses wind alone.

NOAA station 8666467 predicts tides at Folly River North. Heights are above mean lower low water.

Charleston coastal measurements
NOAA · Charleston 8665530 ↗

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Traffic

Estimates run from the named starting points to the selected destination. Colours compare traffic with the provider’s no-traffic duration for the same route. Directions open Google Maps; live estimates identify their provider on the page.

Freshness

Forecasts refresh while the page is open. Source status below identifies fresh, cached or unavailable data. Issue and observation times are checked separately from download time. Traffic expires after ten minutes. All displayed times use Eastern time, including daylight saving time.

Forecast verification

Forecast snapshots are saved for comparison with later observations at Edisto buoy. Scheduled collection runs every six hours; its last successful run is shown in the archive check.

No accuracy result has been calculated in this view.