South Australian Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Monday August 11th)

Best Days: Mid Coast Wednesday, protected spots Saturday afternoon South Coast, Monday morning South Coast

Features of the Forecast (tl;dr)

• Small W/SW swell tomorrow with variable morning winds ahead of W/SW-SW sea breezes
• New moderate sized W/SW mid-period swell Wed with light, local offshore winds ahead of weak sea breezes
• Easing surf Thu with freshening N/NE tending N/NW winds
• Building mod-large W/SW swell Fri with strengthening W/NW winds
• Mix of W/SW swell and building S/SW swell Sat with strong W-W/NW winds
• Reinforcing SW swell Sun with SW tending S winds, possibly W/NW early South Coast
• Easing S/SW swell into next week with variable offshore winds Mon ahead of sea breezes, N/NE Tue

Recap

Saturday started off a little lumpy but still solid and to 3-4ft across Middleton but improved through the morning before sea breezes kicked in. The Mid Coast was tiny.

Yesterday, the swell backed off and conditions were again a touch peaky but clean on the face, best suited to the exposed beaches.

Today a long-range W/SW groundswell has filled in, providing inconsistent, clean 1-2ft sets on the Mid Coast early (now wind affected) while Middleton is only offering slow 2ft sets. 

Clean, small waves this morning

This week and weekend (Aug 12 - 17)

Small, mid-period W/SW swell pulses will pad out this week, generated by weak frontal activity projecting up towards and then under Western Australia while dipping east-south-east.

Tomorrow looks to continue around 1-2ft on the Mid Coast with the South Coast struggling at a slow 2ft across Middleton though a trough will bring a shallow change to both coasts through the morning, though the weak nature will likely see variable S/SE winds on the Mid Coast, W/NW down South before W/SW-SW winds kick in through the afternoon.

Into Wednesday, a slightly better pulse of mid-period W/SW swell is due, generated by a weak front passing under Western Australia today. This Mid should offer more consistent waves to 2ft with the South Coast only coming in at a slow 2ft and variable, light offshore winds are expected, creating clean conditions ahead of weak sea breezes.

The swell will fade back through Thursday as freshening N/NE tending N/NW winds create deteriorating conditions across the Mid Coast with easing sets from 2ft. The South Coast will be clean but small to tiny in size, fading further Friday under strengthening W/NW winds.

These strengthening W/NW winds will be linked to an approaching frontal system, losing strength as it crosses us through the day Friday.

We’re set to see a fetch of strong W/SW winds aimed through the Mid Coast’s swell window Friday, followed by stronger S/SW gales aimed into the South Coast.

The W/SW energy is due to build Friday to 2-3ft later in the day, easing from a similar size Saturday, while the S/SW energy is expected on Saturday afternoon to 4ft down South, easing Sunday.

Local winds will be poor for the Mid Coast and gusty out of the W-W/NW Saturday while the South Coast will see winds out of the W/NW most of the day, favouring protected spots.

Sunday is dicey on the backside of the frontal system with fresh SW breezes, shifting more S/SW through the day.

The swell will ease back into early next week with more variable winds on the cards for both coasts with fading 1-1.5ft waves across the Mid Coast, 3ft to possibly 4ft down South.

The rest of the week will favour the South Coast magnets with a good new SW groundswell likely later Tuesday but more so Wednesday morning. More on this and any change to the weekend outlook on Wednesday.