Well, it has been a bit of a mixed week of weather just gone, with warm temperatures, varying wind directions and intensities, and even a few sprinkles of rain yesterday.
Now, as we look ahead to today and then across the weekend, we can expect a change in wind direction this morning that will then unfortunately become quite gusty across the weekend which may not be ideal for beachgoers unless you are heading to a sheltered location.
The winds will be light and from the S/SW early this morning before they slowly swing from the S/SE to E/SE during the day and increase to 10 to 15 knots.
Tomorrow will bring stronger winds with S/SE to E/SE winds at around 15 knots through the morning that will increase to 20+ knots through the afternoon.
Sunday will be similar with around 20 knots of E/SE winds throughout the entire day.
Swimming
Swimming conditions have been a bit like the weather this week – quite mixed – with the ocean being quite wobbly and choppy across most beaches for the majority of the week.
As we look ahead, today should provide reasonable swimming conditions across most beaches and particularly early this morning while the winds are light and offshore but this will not be the case for the weekend.
For both Saturday and Sunday, almost all beaches (apart from Hervey Bay) will have choppy and slightly messy ocean conditions, with a side sweep pushing along from right to left, so swimmers will need to be cautious.
The best beaches will be Hervey Bay, Agnes Water (adjacent to the headland), and then Nielson Park Beach and Moore Park Beach locally.
Early mornings may be the best chance to avoid the strong winds, but for high tide conditions you will need to hit the beach around early mid-afternoon.
Please check with the surf lifesavers or lifeguard on duty, read any safety signage or messages and most importantly please swim only at patrolled beaches, only between the red and yellow flags, and only during patrol times – remember, if we can’t see you, we can’t save you.
Today: 9 am – 5pm at Kellys Beach and Agnes Water only
Saturday: 9 am – 5pm at Kellys Beach, Nielson Park Beach, Oaks Beach and Agnes Water; 1 – 5 pm at Elliott Heads and Moore Park Beach
Sunday: 9 am – 5 pm at Elliott Heads, Kellys Beach, Nielson Park Beach, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water
Surfing
There has continued to be a run of swell across most beaches this past week but the problem has been the varying wind and ocean conditions that have caused the waves to be quite messy and sloppy and therefore not providing the best rides.
Today should once again see more fun-sized waves for board-riders and hopefully a little better wave quality as well with the lighter winds, so try early this morning or again from late morning to mid-afternoon.
However, for the weekend we can expect the wind to once again mess up the wave faces and change the swell direction but there will still be a few waves about for those keen to get out and enjoy.
Agnes Water, Mon Repos, Moore Park Beach and Nielson Park Beach will be the better options, with early mornings or early to mid-afternoons being the better times.
