Well, we are approaching the middle weekend of the school holidays, and unfortunately, the weather forecast is not looking great for beachgoers, with a very similar forecast to last weekend – wet!
Unfortunately, there is a 90% chance of showers today and even the possibility of a thunderstorm, but tomorrow’s forecast is for rain periods (20-40mm), before showers are again forecast for Sunday – but fingers crossed the sun does reappear at some stage through the day on Sunday!
Temperatures will remain quite mild once again today and across the weekend, but we can expect tomorrow’s maximum temperature to stay quite low if the rain does arrive.
Now having said all of that, if you can forget about the rain, the good news is that the winds will remain reasonably light over the coming days, keeping the ocean quite mild (apart from some fun-sized waves).
The winds today will be from the E/NE at around 10 knots, before they swing more from the E at only 5 to 10 knots this afternoon.
Tomorrow will then bring S/SE to E/SE winds in the morning at around 10 knots before a late S/SW wind change arrives through the late afternoon.
Sunday will then bring S/SW winds at 10 to 15 knots throughout the day, but they will tend more from the South through the afternoon.
Weather forecast might deter swimmers
It was a very windy start to this past week and ocean conditions were very choppy and messy, especially on the open and exposed beaches, up until Wednesday afternoon.
Thankfully, the winds eased yesterday, and the swimming conditions improved, and looking ahead to the coming days, the ocean conditions should also remain quite mild – although there will be a bit of swell about, so swimmers will need to be cautious with the amount of water movement expected.
With the E/NE winds forecast for today, the better beaches for swimmers will be Kelly’s Beach and Elliott Heads, but by tomorrow we will see a wind change, so beaches such as Agnes Water, Nielson Park, Moore Park Beach and Hervey Bay will be the better options.
Then, by Sunday, all beaches should be quite good for swimmers as the offshore winds arrive.
The best time for a swim will be either through the early mornings, or again from mid to late afternoon when the tide is high.
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!
Beach patrols: Today and weekdays – Nil
Saturday and Sunday – 9am to 5pm at Kelly’s Beach and Agnes Water only
Surfing: Most local beaches have offered up plenty of waves for the board-riders over at least the past two days, with yesterday in particular, seeing a sharp increase in wave heights and plenty of fun was had.
Now, the good news for board-riders, is that these waves will hang around for today – in fact today is looking the best of the next 3 days – and hopefully right across the weekend as well, but the wave heights will start to get smaller across the weekend.
Try the early mornings, or again from early to mid-afternoon, at your favourite break for best results – Agnes Water, Nielson Park, Mon Repos and Moore Park Beach may be better options, but I would suggest Kelly’s Beach and even Elliott Heads could surprise today with the E/NE winds.
For the SUP and ocean ski/kayak paddlers, there will be plenty of waves to enjoy for those that like to have a surf, but for those looking for a calm and gentle ocean paddle, you may need to wait until Sunday morning when the offshore winds arrive.
In terms of downwind paddles for those more experienced paddlers, perhaps Sunday afternoon could provide something.
Events: Nil.
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.
Other news:
- Ekka Country Music Showdown big win for Keely
- Chilly early mornings to return
- Rural Fire Service hosts local open days
A weather report is a predictive “guess.”
Once the date has passed surely Craig Holden’s predictive guess, Posted 2nd July has passed into history. Yes it was wet.
But once last weekend has passed historically, surely the post should be taken down. This is lazy journalism.
I was simply trying to get some inside knowledge to the coming weekend ( Saturday 10th July) and whether an outdoor wedding reception, to which I have been invited was at risk or not.