Craig Holden says beach conditions won't be the best as high winds are likely for the next few days along the Bundaberg coastline:
Well, after a mostly fine, but very warm and humid week featuring great beach weather, the forecast for the coming days is not looking promising unfortunately – particularly for today and tomorrow!
Yesterday’s showers look set to continue through today, but the weekend should see a return of mostly sunny skies.
The bad news for beachgoers (not the board-riders) though will be the onset of very strong E/SE winds – particularly through today – that will gradually ease a little by Sunday.
Today’s winds will be from the E/SE at around 20 knots this morning before increasing during the day to 25 to 30 knots by this afternoon – and possibly even stronger!
Tomorrow morning will then bring S/SE winds at a more tolerable 15 to 20 knots, but they will also increase to 20+knots from the E/SE through the afternoon.
Sunday will then bring 10 to 15 knots of S/SE winds in the morning but then increase to 15 to 20 knots from the E/SE through the afternoon as well.
Swimming: The swimming conditions have been quite good for the most part this past week, although the water clarity is still very murky across most beaches, with some debris still washing up with the incoming tide.
With the increase in wind strength yesterday, we did see the more open and exposed beaches become quite choppy and messy, and unfortunately, this will only get worse during today, before gradually easing through tomorrow and into Sunday.
For today and tomorrow, we can expect very messy and rough conditions to develop across almost all beaches, and more so those open and exposed beaches that feel the full strength of the SE winds.
There will also be a strong side current pushing from right to left across these beaches as well, so swimmers will need to be extremely cautious over the coming days. Hervey Bay will be the absolute best of all beaches over the coming days for swimmers, but beaches such as Moore Park, Agnes Water and even Nielson Park will be okay, without being great.
Fingers crossed those conditions should ease across all beaches by Sunday morning.
If you are keen for a swim, try early tomorrow morning, or else wait until Sunday and either hit the beach early while the winds are light or again from mid to late morning when the tide is higher.
Please check with the lifesavers or 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: Saturday and Sunday – 8am to 6pm at Elliott Heads, Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water, plus a roving lifeguard across the Bundaberg Region; also early morning RWC surveillance patrols operate from 6.00am around the Bargara and Mon Repos areas.
Today and Wednesday (Australia Day) – 8am to 6pm at Elliott Heads, Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water.
Weekdays (next week) – 9am to 5pm at Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park and Agnes Water only.
Surfing: This week has again delivered plenty of clean and fun-sized waves for local surfers to enjoy, and the forecast is looking good for more to come – the only problem is that whilst the wave heights should increase, the ocean is going to become very messy and choppy – particularly through today!
Beaches such as Agnes Water, Nielson Park, Mon Repos and Moore Park should all provide the better surfing conditions through today and tomorrow, but early Sunday morning could also see cleaner conditions if those winds do drop as forecast. Enjoy!
For the SUP and ocean ski paddlers, if you are not surfing, you should get plenty of slick, downwind paddling options (south to north) through today and tomorrow.
But for those looking for calm and gentle conditions, you will be best served to stick to the protected waterways and creeks.
Events: Good luck to all local surf lifesavers competing in various surf life saving carnivals across this weekend – QLD State Board Riding Championships (Coolum Beach) on both days, Summer of Surf Maroochy Surf Classic (Maroochydore) on Saturday, or the Local Junior (U8-U15) Surf Lifesaving Carnival at Elliott Heads on Sunday.
Important note: Remember there are updated COVID-19 restrictions, if you are at the beach, please also do your best to abide by them as much as possible!
Last week's beach report: Easing wind for a brilliant weekend on the water
