South Australian Surf Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Wednesday February 9th)

Best Days: Mid Coast tomorrow and Friday for beginners, Mid Coast for beginners Saturday, South Coast Saturday morning, Sunday South Coast swell magnets, Tuesday Mid Coast

Features of the Forecast (tl;dr)

• Easing W/SW tending SW groundswell tomorrow with light-mod S/SE-SE tending fresh S/SE winds
• Further drop in size Fri with fresh to strong SE tending strong S/SE winds
• New, mid-period SW swell Sat with E/NE tending S/SE winds
• Easing SW swell with a new inconsistent groundswell Sun AM with N tending S winds
• Inconsistent W/SW swell building later Mon, peaking Tue with S/SE winds
• Stronger S/SW groundswell for Tue

Recap

Tiny, clean waves across the South Coast yesterday with flat like conditions in the gulf but today our large new W'ly groundswell is filling in with 2-3ft sets across the Mid Coast with light winds and more size to come this afternoon. The Cape du Couedic wave buoy has shot up and we should see the swell peaking at a strong, consistent 3ft this afternoon with 4ft sets on the magnets.

The South Coast was tiny this morning with W'ly winds, owing to the blocking effects of Kangaroo Island, with a touch more swell due tomorrow. More on this below.

Cape du Couedic rocketing up

An example of not what to do

This week and next (Feb 10 - 11)

Today's large, building W'ly groundswell was generated by a severe low forming under the Western Australian coast on Monday and we should see it peaking this afternoon before easing off slowly through tomorrow on the Mid Coast. The South Coast will see the size remain steady all day as the swell swings more SW in direction thanks to a healthy fetch of strong W/SW winds generated on the backside of the low as it drops south-east and away from us.

This will provide 2-3ft sets across Middleton, while the Mid Coast should ease back from 2-3ft tomorrow morning. Winds will be best for the Mid and S/SE-SE in the morning, onshore down South but there's an outside chance for variable breezes at dawn.

Winds are due to shift to a gusty SE'ly on Friday morning but the swell will be smaller and fading from 1-1.5ft on the Mid Coast (ideal for beginners) with 2ft+ waves across Middleton.

Moving into the weekend and a reinforcing pulse of mid-period SW swell is due into Saturday, generated by a weak mid-latitude front passing through the Bight today and tomorrow.

It should maintain 2-3ft waves across Middleton as winds shift E/NE in the morning while the Mid Coast only looks to come in at 1ft+.

Sunday looks much cleaner and good on the exposed beaches as Saturday's mid-period swell fades and an infrequent, long-range SW groundswell should be in the mix. This was generated south-east of South Africa earlier this week and will provide very slow 2ft sets across Middleton, mixed in with the odd bigger one under a N'ly offshore ahead of a S'ly change as a trough moves through.

The Mid Coast isn't expected to see any real size from this swell with sets to 0.5-1ft for desperate beginners.

Longer term we've got another mid-latitude front due to push under the Western Australian coast later this week, but it will dip south and strengthen into a vigorous polar low on the weekend, generating some new S/SW groundswell for Tuesday on the coast.

The initial stages should produce inconsistent 1-2ft sets on the Mid Coast with the S/SW groundswell energy coming in at 4-5ft or so across Middleton. At this stage winds look best for the Mid and from the S/SE but more on this Friday.