Well, it has been a mixed bag of weather through this past week with some un-seasonally warm temperatures over the past two days (and again today) but looking ahead to the weekend, it does appear that those winter days (and single figure minimum temperatures) are set to return.
Today will be a very windy and warm day, with gusty NW winds forecast to blow, and the chance of showers this afternoon, before an overnight W/SW wind change brings clear, sunny days and much cooler early mornings and evenings.
Today’s winds will be from the N/NW at 15 to 20 knots this morning before increasing during the day to 20 to 25+ knots, before we awake tomorrow morning to a gentler 10 to 15 knots of W/SW winds and blue, sunny skies.
Sunday will then be very similar, with around 15 knots of SW winds expected throughout the day.
Then, by Monday (if not sooner) we will start to see single figure minimum temperatures return, so don’t put away those blankets just yet.
Swimming: The past two days have seen the ocean start to get quite choppy and a little messy as these annoying northerly winds set in, and unfortunately, it is going to get a little worse today as the NW winds start gusting to 25+ knots!
This means that those beaches that face in a more northerly direction will be very choppy and messy throughout today, so if you are swimming, the only beaches that I would recommend for today would be Kelly’s Beach and Elliott Heads due to their protection from these winds.
However, good news is in store for beachgoers across the weekend, with winds expected to ease and turn offshore, and therefore bring us more calm and gentle ocean conditions from Saturday onwards.
By Saturday and Sunday, all beaches will provide great swimming conditions, with the best time for a swim likely to be from around midday to mid-afternoon when the tide is higher and the temperature a little warmer too.
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: It has been a very lean week in terms of quality surfing conditions, however yesterday started to throw up an increase in wave heights, but unfortunately the northerly winds also meant that the wave quality was not great, but it was still fun.
Today will provide yet another increase in wave heights as these NW winds get very strong, but yet again, the wave quality at the favoured surf locations will not be great, so my suggestion for today would be to head to beaches such as Kelly’s Beach and Elliott Heads, or even take a drive down to Double Island Point.
Looking ahead to the weekend, the ocean will get much calmer, but the wave heights will also drop very quickly and even almost disappear by Sunday, so your only real window of opportunity will be early tomorrow morning when there could still be some remnants of leftover northerly swell from today, combined with some offshore winds. Good luck.
For the SUP and ocean ski/kayak paddlers, today will provide some pretty awesome downwind paddling conditions (north to south) for those more experienced paddlers, but across the weekend, we will see the ocean get flatter and flatter, which will then suit the paddlers that prefer a much gentler paddle.
There may even be a small, clean wave tomorrow morning as well to enjoy.
Events: Good luck to a small group of surf lifesavers from the Elliott Heads SLSC who will be competing this weekend on the Gold Coast in the 2021 QLD State Pool Rescue (Pool Lifesaving) Championships.
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.
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