Well, it has been yet another week of mixed weather conditions, with cool, wet and windy conditions on Monday and Tuesday, which were replaced by sunny skies and lighter winds on Wednesday and Thursday – it even warmed up to feel like Summer again yesterday!
Looking ahead to the coming days, and it appears we are set for a continuation of mostly sunny skies, and mild to warm temperatures, but the winds are set to increase again – particularly through the afternoons.
The general trend for today and across the weekend will be light winds through the very early mornings, which will gradually increase through the morning to become quite gusty through the afternoons.
This morning’s winds will be light at around 5 to 10 knots from the E/SE before they increase to 10 to 15 knots by late morning and then to 15 to 20 knots through the afternoon.
Then for both Saturday and Sunday, we can expect 10 to 15 knots of E/SE winds through the mornings and 15 to 20 knots through the afternoons.
Swimming: Swimming conditions have generally been okay through this past week, with the last two days in particular, being quite good for swimmers.
As per usual though, it does appear that choppy and messy conditions will return for the weekend, and even as early as this afternoon as the winds start to increase again!
The early mornings will be quite okay if you are keen to get out and about early, with both lighter winds and big high tides expected at that time of the day.
Then, as the winds increase through the morning and into the afternoon, we will see choppy and messy conditions return, and they will be worse on the more open and exposed beaches – where there will also be a side sweep pushing from right to left as well.
With the early morning high tides being very large this weekend, swimmers will need to exercise caution as there will be a lot of tidal water movement, which could be made worse if there is a bit of swell as well.
Please avoid the creek and river mouths during the run-out stage of the tide as the tidal currents there will be even stronger!
The better beaches for swimmers will be Hervey Bay, Agnes Water, Nielson Park and Moore Park beaches.
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: Weekdays – 9 am to 5 pm at Elliott Heads, Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water, plus a rove lifeguard operating in the Bundaberg Region (Please note: Operational hours may differ at certain beaches)
Saturday and Sunday – 8 am to 6 pm at Elliott Heads, Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water, plus a rove lifeguard operating in the Bundaberg Region (Please note: Operational hours may differ at certain beaches)
Surfing: Well once again we have seen a bit of a run of fun-sized waves about our local beaches over the past few days, with clean, fun waves aplenty since that rain cleared away and the winds eased in strength.
The big query is – will they hang around for the weekend? I am going to say hopefully!
It does look like there may be a small decrease in wave heights today before they increase slightly across the weekend, but really, there should be enough there to enjoy through until at least Sunday.
The early mornings will be the best bet for local beaches – but as we know, Agnes Water should be better once that tide is a bit lower. Best beaches for board riders should be Agnes Water, Mon Repos, Nielson Park and Moore Park. Good luck!
For the SUP and ocean ski paddlers, there will no shortage of suitable conditions for a slick south to north downwind paddle this afternoon, and again on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon as well.
But for those looking for a more relaxed and gentler ocean paddle, I would suggest hitting the beach in the very early mornings (where there should be clean waves too!) or else looking for sheltered, inland waterways across the weekend.
Events: Nil.
- Last weeks beach report: Mild temperatures and showers predicted
