South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales Surf Forecast (issued Friday 28th March)
Yeah, definitely 3 foot re "middle part of next week"...... That funky little low just seems to be sitting there, with an average trade fetch all the way to New Cal'.... Local winds look a bit lighter, too..... This will be more of a traditional "inconsistent" swell, though..... possibly "later in the week"...
Feckin Sheep Shaggin Isle!!! The one rare time we have a little low pressure system retrograde and bang, the fecking sheep shaggin isle get's in the way!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!
hehehe. Nice work Donweather ;) Let's nuke it off the map!!!!..... East coast tassie surfers would be stoked!!!!!!
South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales Surf Forecast by Ben Matson (issued Friday 28th March)
Best Days: Sat: Improving surf in Northern NSW as winds swing NW. Sun: fun small surf in most regions with light winds early. Mon onwards: return to the trade swell regime.
Recap: Strengthening onshores and building local swell on Thursday, reaching a peak in size early Friday. I was pleasantly surprised to see my Wednesday call for periods of light winds in SE Qld today eventuate (contrary to model guidance and BOM warnings). However gusty N’ly winds have persisted across much of northern NSW. Wave heights dropped noticeably throughout the day, which is not surprising given the local source of the bulk swell energy.
This weekend (Mar 29-30)
No major changes to the overall trend of the weekend forecast. The punchy local swell of the last few days is easing, and it'll continue to the downwards trend to be left with residual background trade swell by Sunday in the 2ft range.
Saturday will start off bigger than this, although I’ve downgraded size estimates from Wednesday, based on today’s rapid easing trend. Expect peaky 3ft+ surf at exposed beaches in SE Qld and Northern NSW, easing to 2ft+ by lunchtime, with smaller waves south of about Ballina.
A small low will form off the South Coast of New South Wales overnight tonight, extending a weak southerly change along the southern NSW coast on Saturday that should reach Port Macquarie by lunch and possibly even Yamba by mid-afternoon, however there won’t be much strength in it.
NW winds will dominate the SE Qld and Northern NSW coasts on Saturday, so aim for a beach break that can handle the appropriate winds with the easing short range swell.
Sunday looks better in most regions conditions wise, but surf size will be dropping so you’ll need to surf early for the best waves. Sea breezes are likely in all areas in the afternoon.
Next week (Mar 31 onwards)
Nothing major on the cards for next week. The models have eased back the projected trade flow south of New Caledonia, but nevertheless we’re still looking at a mid range E’ly swell in the 2-3ft+ range across SE Qld with smaller waves south of about Yamba through the middle part of next week.
Otherwise, the Tasman Sea is expected to remain quiet up until about next Friday when we may see a low pressure system form off the South Coast of NSW. It’s too early to have any confidence on swell prospects in SE Qld and Northern NSW from this system, so we’ll reevaluate this outlook in Monday’s outlook.