In this week's beach report, Craig Holden says the weather is looking good with conditions okay for swimmers but choppy for surfers.
Important note: Remember there are updated COVID-19 restrictions. If you are at the beach, please maintain the social/physical distancing minimum guidelines and abide by the current group gathering guidelines as well.
Weather: It has been another pretty good week weather-wise across our local region, with the beaches presenting mostly good beach and ocean conditions for the majority of the week.
Looking ahead to Friday and across the weekend, and the weather is shaping up to be pretty good once again, with light to moderate winds, more warm temperatures for today and tomorrow, and then just the slight chance of a shower by Sunday as the winds change and the temperature dips just fractionally.
Friday morning’s winds will only be light at around 10 knots from the N/NE before they increase just a little to 10 to 15 knots through this morning and into this afternoon.
Saturday morning will be similar with only 5-10 knots of N/NW winds before they again increase to 10-15 knots from the N/NE to E/NE through the late morning and into the afternoon.
However, by Sunday, we will see a wind change with 10-15 knots of E/SE winds forecast by then.
Swimming: Swimming conditions will be okay over the coming days, with mostly calm conditions through the early mornings while the winds are lighter and then slightly choppier conditions through the afternoons as the winds increase by this time of day.
The best beaches for swimmers will change over the coming days, with Friday and Saturday dominated by mostly northerly winds, so this means Kellys Beach and Elliott Heads will be the better locations for swimmers.
However, by Sunday, beaches such as Agnes Water, Hervey Bay, Nielson Park and Moore Park Beach will be better options with the forecast change in wind direction.
The best time to hit the beach for a swim will either be in the early mornings while the winds are lighter, or again from early to mid-afternoon while the tide is high.
Just be wary of bluebottles while the winds are from the north today and tomorrow.
Don’t forget though, please check with the lifeguard or lifesavers 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!
Beach patrols: Friday and weekdays – 9am to 5pm at Kellys Beach and Agnes Water only.
Saturday – 9am to 5pm at Kellys Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach and Agnes Water; 1pm to 5pm at Elliott Heads and Moore Park Beach.
Sunday – 9am to 5pm at Elliott Heads, Kellys Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water.
Surfing: The surf conditions have been quite okay this past week, with plenty of fun waves to be found across local beaches if you were able to line up the right stage of the tide at the right beach!
Looking ahead to the coming days and despite a little bit of E/NE swell persisting at a lengthy period over the coming two days, we can expect the northerly winds to make things quite sloppy across most beaches.
For best results, have a look at locations such as Kellys Beach, Elliott Heads and Nielson Park through the early mornings or again a couple of hours before the top of the tide for better results.
By Sunday though, we will see a change in wind direction to be from the E/SE and this may bring an increase in wave heights into early next week, but again, expect the waves to be a little wind effected, but locations such as Agnes Water, Moore Park Beach, Mon Repos and Nielson Park could well be worth a look by then.
For the SUP and ocean ski/kayak paddlers, forecast conditions may enable some calmer ocean paddles to take place through the very early mornings Friday and Saturday, however by Sunday we will again expect the ocean to get a little choppy and sloppy.
For the downwind paddlers, there may be an opportunity for a north to south run through Friday afternoon and again Saturday afternoon, and then a south to north paddle by Sunday when the wind changes.
Events: Nil.
- Last week's beach report with Craig Holden: Perfect swimming conditions at local beaches
