Craig Holden says the weather is looking pretty good for some beach activities this weekend.
Well, it has been an interesting week of weather just past, with very hot, humid and stormy conditions, but in between the storms, there was also some pretty good beach weather as well!
Looking ahead to today and into the weekend, we can certainly expect the warm and muggy conditions to continue, along with mostly sunny skies as well, which is great news for beachgoers.
There is the chance of a storm today, but aside from that, the weather should be pretty good with mostly light winds as well, so it looks like the beach is going to be the place to be this weekend!
Today’s winds are going to be quite variable, with W/NW to W/SW winds early this morning at around 5 to 10 knots, that will then swing back to the N/NW during the day but only reach around 10 knots.
Tomorrow will again bring more variable winds, with S/SW to S/SE winds through the morning at around 5 knots, before these winds swing from the NE through the afternoon and increase to 10 to 15 knots by late afternoon.
Sunday will then bring W/SW to N/NE winds at only 5 knots through the morning, before increasing gradually through the day to be around 10 to 15 knots by late afternoon.
Swimming: Swimming conditions have been quite mixed once again during this past week, but they did improve markedly from about Wednesday onwards.
As we look ahead to today, and also for the weekend, we can expect some really good swimming conditions for the most part, and particularly through the mornings – in fact, the best time for swimmers over the coming days will certainly be any time from early morning through until around midday.
All beaches will provide great swimming conditions through the mornings, but for the afternoons when those winds shift more from the N/NW to N/NE, the better beaches will then be Kelly’s Beach and Elliott Heads.
Just be careful though if swimming as the water is still quite murky across all beaches after the recent rainfall – and fingers crossed the blue bottles do not arrive!
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 – 9 am to 5 pm at Kelly’s Beach and Agnes Water only
Saturday – 9 am to 5 pm at Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach and Agnes Water; 1 pm to 5 pm at Elliott Heads and Moore Park Beach
Sunday – 9 am to 5 pm at Elliott Heads, Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water
Surfing: This past week has thrown up plenty of waves about our local beaches, with the quality varying quite a bit due to the tide and the wind strength, but for those that timed it right there was plenty of fun to be had!
Unfortunately, the forecast does suggest the wave heights are going to drop quite quickly through today and across the weekend, but there should still be enough there to provide some small, clean fun through the mornings.
The waves may well be better suited to the mals, but you never know!
All the usual locations will be worth a sneaky look – but if the swell direction and winds remain more northerly, both Kelly’s Beach and Elliott Heads may surprise. Good luck!
For the SUP and ocean ski paddlers, the very late afternoons across the weekend may just provide enough wind for a south to north downwind paddle, but if not, the early mornings will provide plenty of calm and relaxed conditions out on the ocean – and maybe a few small, fun waves as well.
Events: Good luck to all local surf lifesavers that will be competing in this weekends North Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships in Mackay, which start today!
- Last week's beach report: Pending east coast low to change conditions
