Well, it has been yet another warm and humid week across the local region, with a light to moderate SE wind change arriving on Tuesday that at least dropped the humidity levels a little bit.
Looking ahead to today and then across the weekend, a lot of the weather conditions are going to depend on the track that TC Jasper takes in the Coral Sea but whilst it stays out to sea and to the north of us, we should not see much impact apart from an increase in wave heights on the beaches.
More warm temperatures are forecast with partly cloudy skies, and the increased chance of a shower by Sunday.
Today’s winds will be from the E/SE at around 15 knots this morning before increasing to 15 to 20 knots through this afternoon.
Tomorrow’s winds will hopefully remain at around 15 knots from the E/SE to E, before Sunday then brings 15 knots of E/SE winds through the morning that will then increase to around 20 knots through the afternoon.
But check the forecast regularly for updates.
SLSQ paid lifeguard services will commence on local beaches from this weekend and continue throughout the Christmas school holiday period, meaning that beaches will have seven day a week lifesaving coverage thanks to both the paid lifeguard and volunteer lifesaving services.
Swimming
Swimming conditions have been quite good during the past week with the light to moderate winds keeping the ocean quite mild, apart from some chop through the afternoons.
Looking ahead to the coming days and with moderate E/SE winds forecast, we can expect choppy conditions across our local beaches for the most part.
If we combine this with the expected increase in wave heights across local beaches, swimmers will need to swim with caution over the coming days as we will expect quite a bit of water movement on the beaches due to the waves and chop.
Early mornings will likely be the best time for a swim this weekend while the tide is high and the winds slightly lighter.
Please check with the surf 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!
Today: 9 am to 5 pm at Kelly's Beach and Agnes Water only.
Saturday and Sunday: 9 am to 5 pm at Elliott Heads, Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park Beach, Oaks Beach, Moore Park and Agnes Water, plus a rove lifeguard across the Bundaberg Region.
Weekdays (from Monday): 9 am to 5 pm at Elliott Heads, Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park Beach, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water plus a rove lifeguard across the Bundaberg Region.
Surfing
There has been next to nothing on offer for local board-riders so far this week but this could all be about to change quickly over the next 24 hours – pending what happens with TC Jasper of course!
There is still a great deal of uncertainty in the forecast but we should start to see an increase in wave heights across local beaches through today before the wave heights start to get more significant through tomorrow and into Sunday (and hopefully Monday too).
With some long-period swell coming from the N/NE all local beaches should have plenty of waves on offer – we just need to hope that the E/SE winds don’t make it too messy.
Agnes Water, Nielson Park Beach, Mon Repos and Moore Park will likely be the better options but Kelly’s Beach will also be worth a look too.
Keep an eye on the forecast and enjoy the swell if it arrives!
Events
A local Junior Surf Lifesaving Carnival is being held at Moore Park Beach on Sunday commencing at 9 am – good luck to all competitors!
