LifestyleMostly clear skies with warm temperatures

Mostly clear skies with warm temperatures

warm weather
In this week's beach report, Craig Holden says to expect more warm temperatures as the winds swing back from a northerly direction.

In this week's beach report, Craig Holden says to expect more warm temperatures as the winds swing back from a northerly direction.

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: Once again, it has been a pretty good week of weather for beachgoers despite the muggy and rainy start on Monday – provided you hit the beach early to escape the windier conditions through the afternoons.

Looking ahead to the weekend and we can expect more warm temperatures as the winds swing back from a northerly direction, but generally the skies are expected to remain mostly sunny, although there is the chance of scattered showers and even a late thunderstorm on Sunday.

This morning’s winds will only be light at around 10 knots from the E/SE before they gradually turn more from the E/NE during the day and gust up to 15 to 20 knots by later afternoon.

Saturday will then be very similar with N/NE to N/NW winds in the morning at only around 10 knots before they also strengthen to 15 to 20 knots from the N/NE through the afternoon.

Sunday will be very similar as well, with 10 knots of N/NW winds early that will increase to 10 to 15 knots from the N/NE through the afternoon.

Swimming: Swimming conditions have been quite mixed over the past week with clam and gentle conditions through the early mornings giving way to choppy and messy conditions through the afternoons.

This general pattern will continue over the coming days as well (although not quite as messy as during the week) with the better swimming conditions being found from early to mid-morning while the tides are high and the winds lighter, then choppy conditions expected through the afternoons as the onshore winds strengthen – this will be exaggerated on those beaches that face in a more northerly direction as well.

This morning will provide good swimming conditions across all beaches, but from this afternoon onwards, the best swimming options will certainly be Elliott Heads and Kellys Beach due to their protection from the northerly winds.

Keep an eye out for blue bottles too once the winds turn more from the north this afternoon and across the weekend.

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: Today and weekdays – 9am to 5pm at Kellys Beach and Agnes Water only

Saturday and Sunday – 9am to 5pm at Elliott Heads, Kellys Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water.

Surfing: There have continued to be plenty of small, fun waves about our local beaches during this past week, with the early mornings in particular throwing up plenty of fun, mal waves to enjoy.

There is no reason why this morning won’t be the same too at locations such as Agnes Water, Nielson Park, Mon Repos and Moore Park Beach, but this may well be the end of it, with those northerly winds expected to ruin the fun from this afternoon onwards.

However, both tomorrow morning and Sunday morning may provide options to hit locations such as Kellys Beach, Elliott Heads and Nielson Park to find some cleaner but smaller waves.

Sunday morning may also surprise too, with forecasts showing some longer period swell that may throw up a small increaser in wave heights. Good Luck.

For the SUP and ocean ski/kayak paddlers, there will be small windows of opportunity to hit the ocean through the early mornings over the coming days in order to find reasonably calm and gentle conditions before the winds increase through the afternoons.

Once that wind does get up and turn more N/NE through the afternoons, it will then provide some reasonable downwind paddling conditions (north to south) for the more experienced paddlers, whilst this would be a good time to hit the protected waterways and creeks/rivers for those that are less experienced.

Events: Good luck to the small group of surf lifesavers from the Elliott Heads and Bundaberg Surf Life Saving Clubs that are competing this weekend in the 2021 Queensland Surf Rescue Championships on the Gold Coast.

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