Well, it has been a bit of a week of weather with rain, and lots of it, strong winds, mild temperatures and rough seas – not the best combination for beach goers – but the worst has now passed and as we saw yesterday, things are quickly improving!
The sun has poked its head out again and it should stay out now across the weekend too, with light to moderate winds as well.
Today’s winds will be from the W/NE early before swinging more from the N/NW during the day, but they should only be blowing at around 10 knots.
Tomorrow will then bring NW winds at 10 to 15 knots through the morning, before they increase to 15+ knots around the middle of the day.
Sunday will then bring variable winds (SW to S/SW to N/NE) at around 10 knots.
Swimming
This past week brought very ordinary and rough conditions to most beaches across the local region – well through until about midday Wednesday anyway – as the strong winds associated with that weather system whipped up waves and messy conditions.
But thankfully, the winds have now eased and the ocean has calmed significantly since yesterday – the only issue for swimmers now is the dirty water from the rainfall/storm water and a little bit of wave action to contend with.
The wave heights will decrease quickly though over coming days, with swimming conditions set to be pretty good from today through until early next week.
For today and tomorrow, while the winds remain northerly, the best beaches for swimmers will be Kelly’s Beach and Elliott Heads but by Sunday all beaches will provide good conditions.
The best time to hit the ocean will be from early to mid-morning, or again around late afternoon.
Please check with the 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.
Weekdays: 9 am to 5 pm at Agnes Water only
Saturday and Sunday: 9 am to 5 pm at Kelly’s Beach and Agnes Water only
Surfing
This past week has brought mixed surfing conditions as you would expect with the weather that we have had – particularly through Tuesday and Wednesday.
Rough, sizeable and out of control conditions were the norm through until about midday/early afternoon on Wednesday, before an easing of the winds brought super fun, clean and decent waves through Wednesday afternoon.
The clean, fun waves then continued through yesterday but the size has been dropping quickly.
Clean, fun waves should persist through today and across the weekend, but the size is going to get smaller and smaller.
Your best chance will be today and probably this morning.
But keep checking across the weekend at locations such as Agnes Water, Nielson Park Beach, Mon Repos or Moore Park Beach, with Kelly’s Beach and Elliott Heads perhaps being the surprise packets.
For the SUP and ocean ski paddlers chasing a downwind paddle, you will probably need to wait until tomorrow to get enough wind for a north to south run.
But for those chasing a relaxing paddle in the ocean, hit the beaches through the early mornings – Kelly’s Beach or Elliott Heads being the better options for today and tomorrow.
