Western Australia Surf Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Friday 11th of April)
Best Days: Monday, Wednesday morning, Friday
Recap
A moderate mix of new W/NW swell and long-range SW groundswell peaked in the 3-5ft range across the South West yesterday, with 1-2ft waves in Perth, while Gero started off slow and in the 2ft range, but an increase to 2-3ft was seen during the afternoon.
Morning offshores gave wave to weak sea breezes and then a glass-off in the South West and around Perth, while Geraldton saw stronger afternoon sea breezes.
Today was smaller across most regions with fading 2-3ft sets in the South West, 1-1.5ft waves around Perth and 2-3ft surf up at Gero under morning offshores.
This weekend and Monday (Apr 12 – 14)
Give the surf a miss tomorrow as the swell will bottom out as a weak S'ly change pushes through leaving no real quality options for a surf.
Sunday will start off slow but there's been no real change to the forecast from Wednesday, with a mix of medium-range and longer-range SW groundswell due to fill in during the day in the South West (with the larger longer-range energy peaking Monday).
The medium-range swell was generated by an intense but short-lived mid-latitude low firing up to our west-southwest and should reach 3-4ft during the afternoon in the South West, much smaller elsewhere.
The stronger long-range groundswell was generated by a vigorous polar low in the Heard Island region and should peak at a good but inconsistent 5-6ft in the South West, 2ft in Perth and 3-4ft around Gero.
Winds on Sunday will be fresh and gusty from the SE in general, and with the small amounts of swell, nowhere will really be worth a look.
Monday looks like the day though with morning offshores from the E/SE in the South West, E/NE in Perth and NE up at Gero.
Next Tuesday onwards (Apr 15 onwards)
The models are finally in alignment on what's instore next week and we're looking at a couple of solid pulses of SW groundswell through the second half of next week, culminating in a large pulse on Friday.
This will be related to a node of the Long Wave Trough intensifying directly west of us during the middle to end of next week, steering a series of vigorous cold fronts up towards us (illustrated right).
The first system will be a mid-latitude low firing up to our west-southwest and pushing across the South West Tuesday evening, generating a close-range swell with average winds.
Friday's swell, which will be one of the strongest swells we've seen in some time, will develop from a polar low west of Heard Island generating a fetch of severe-gale to sub-storm-force W/SW winds while tracking east along the polar shelf towards us. This system should then be projected up closer to us through next week, producing a SW groundswell in the 10-12ft range for the South West, 2-3ft in Perth and 6-8ft up at Gero.
Winds are looking favourable as well with offshore E/SE breezes, but we'll have to confirm all of this on Monday so check back then for an update.
Western Australia Surf Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Friday 11th of April)
Best Days: Monday, Wednesday morning, Friday
Recap
A moderate mix of new W/NW swell and long-range SW groundswell peaked in the 3-5ft range across the South West yesterday, with 1-2ft waves in Perth, while Gero started off slow and in the 2ft range, but an increase to 2-3ft was seen during the afternoon.
Morning offshores gave wave to weak sea breezes and then a glass-off in the South West and around Perth, while Geraldton saw stronger afternoon sea breezes.
Today was smaller across most regions with fading 2-3ft sets in the South West, 1-1.5ft waves around Perth and 2-3ft surf up at Gero under morning offshores.
This weekend and Monday (Apr 12 – 14)
Give the surf a miss tomorrow as the swell will bottom out as a weak S'ly change pushes through leaving no real quality options for a surf.
Sunday will start off slow but there's been no real change to the forecast from Wednesday, with a mix of medium-range and longer-range SW groundswell due to fill in during the day in the South West (with the larger longer-range energy peaking Monday).
The medium-range swell was generated by an intense but short-lived mid-latitude low firing up to our west-southwest and should reach 3-4ft during the afternoon in the South West, much smaller elsewhere.
The stronger long-range groundswell was generated by a vigorous polar low in the Heard Island region and should peak at a good but inconsistent 5-6ft in the South West, 2ft in Perth and 3-4ft around Gero.
Winds on Sunday will be fresh and gusty from the SE in general, and with the small amounts of swell, nowhere will really be worth a look.
Monday looks like the day though with morning offshores from the E/SE in the South West, E/NE in Perth and NE up at Gero.
Next Tuesday onwards (Apr 15 onwards)
The models are finally in alignment on what's instore next week and we're looking at a couple of solid pulses of SW groundswell through the second half of next week, culminating in a large pulse on Friday.
The first system will be a mid-latitude low firing up to our west-southwest and pushing across the South West Tuesday evening, generating a close-range swell with average winds.
Friday's swell, which will be one of the strongest swells we've seen in some time, will develop from a polar low west of Heard Island generating a fetch of severe-gale to sub-storm-force W/SW winds while tracking east along the polar shelf towards us. This system should then be projected up closer to us through next week, producing a SW groundswell in the 10-12ft range for the South West, 2-3ft in Perth and 6-8ft up at Gero.
Winds are looking favourable as well with offshore E/SE breezes, but we'll have to confirm all of this on Monday so check back then for an update.