Well, it has been a reasonable week of weather this past week, with milder temperatures and mostly sunny skies, but those onshore winds have been persisting for the most part at quite a moderate strength.
Good news is on the forecast in terms of weather for the coming days, with more mostly sunny skies expected, along with cooler minimum temperatures and mild maximum temperatures, but only light to moderate winds, which is great news for the beach goers.
Today’s winds will be variable and light, with W/SW winds early this morning at only around 5 knots that will then swing more from the N/NW during the afternoon but increase to only 5 to 10 knots.
Tomorrow will then bring a light wind change, with S/SW to E/SE winds forecast but only at around 10 knots.
Sunday will then be very similar, with S/SE to E/SE winds expected at around 10 knots through the morning that will then increase slightly to 10 to 15 knots through the afternoon.
There is the very slight chance of a shower about through Sunday, but these will be more likely on Monday.
Swimming
The swimming conditions have been a little mixed this past week, with moments of calm, glassy conditions (mostly through the very early mornings) that were then replaced by choppy and messier conditions by about mid to late morning.
There has also been plenty of swell about this past week, which has also meant there has been lots of water movement as well to keep the swimmers on their toes.
But, just like the weather, the swimming conditions will also improve over the coming days as the winds decrease in strength and the swell size drops away as well.
The best time for a swim over coming days will be from early morning right through until early afternoon, with all beaches expected to provide reasonable swimming conditions through the early mornings especially.
For this afternoon though, Kelly’s Beach and Elliott Heads will certainly be slightly better, but then for the afternoons across the weekend, beaches such as Agnes Water, Hervey Bay, Nielson Park, and Moore Park will be slightly better options.
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 – 9 am to 5 pm at Kelly’s Beach and Agnes Water only
Surfing
Well, this past week has certainly turned on some fantastic surfing conditions for the local board-riders, with pretty much all of our local beaches providing plenty of great surfing conditions since Thursday last week.
It has been a great seven or eight days of waves, but as we know, all good things must come to an end, and we have already seen the wave heights start to drop slowly through yesterday and they will continue to do so over the coming days as well.
It is not all doom and gloom however, with the prospect of some small waves over the coming days, but in comparison to the past week, these waves will be pretty average.
If you are not surfed out, check out the mornings at locations such as Agnes Water, Mon Repos, Nielson Park, Moore Park and Kelly’s Beach.
For the SUP and Ocean Ski paddlers, the wind forecast is not looking promising for any slick downwind paddles, although Sunday afternoon might just provide enough for a south to north run.
For those looking for a more relaxed paddle, the ocean will not be too bad over the coming days and particularly through the mornings, but there will still be a slight wobble and bit of a small wave.
Events
The 2023 Queensland Pool Rescue Championships are being held in Cairns this weekend – good luck to our local competitors!
