Well after a cracking weekend of beach weather and stifling heat and humidity, which continued into Monday, we had a SE wind change move into the region on Monday night and the temperatures and the humidity levels dropped slightly.
Unfortunately, this won’t last, with both the temperatures and the humidity levels set to rise again over the coming days!
The only respite could come from some showers, and possible rain periods and thunderstorms – pending the track of Tropical Cyclone Kirrily.
It is important to note that weather forecasts could change quickly pending the cyclone movement, so keep watching the forecast over the coming days.
At this stage, the forecast is for 10 to 15 knots of E/NE to N/NE winds on Friday that will strengthen to be around 15+ knots through the late afternoon.
Saturday is then very similar, with N/NW to N winds at 10 to 15 knots that will increase to 15+ knots by late afternoon.
Sunday will then bring N/NW to N/NE winds at 10 to 15 knots.
Swimming
The swimming conditions were sensational across last weekend and again on Monday, but with the moderate SE wind change moving into the region on Monday night, swimming conditions have been choppy and slightly messy for the past few days, along with some increasing wave heights.
Choppy and wobbly conditions will persist over the coming days, but more so on those beaches that face in a northerly direction, but it does look like swimming conditions will not be as bad as first thought.
With the northerly winds expected to continue across the long weekend, the best beaches for swimmers will be Kelly’s Beach and Elliott Heads, whilst the best time for a swim over the coming days will be through the mornings – probably up until late morning – as this is when the tide will be high and the winds slightly lighter.
A word of warning for swimmers though, with large high tide heights and a bit of wave action about, there will be strong currents on the beaches and also in the creek and river mouths, so please be careful!
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!
Beach Patrols
Today: 9 am to 5 pm at Elliott Heads, Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park Beach, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water
Saturday and Sunday: 9 am to 5 pm at Elliott Heads, Kelly’s Beach, Nielson Park Beach, Oaks Beach, Moore Park Beach and Agnes Water
Note: These are minimum patrol times – some locations may have longer hours of patrol time.
Surfing
Local beaches have thrown up plenty of waves over the past few days, with wave heights increasing from about Tuesday onwards – the only problem has been the moderate E/SE winds messing up the wave faces and making the wave quality not so great.
How long the waves hang around for though is the big question!
Fingers crossed they will persist at least until today before starting to drop in heights through this afternoon and across the weekend – but there should still be small, fun waves to be found.
Your best bet would be to hit the beaches through this morning to find some better waves, and then maybe consider Kelly’s Beach and Elliott Heads across the weekend to find a few smaller and cleaner waves.
Good luck.
For the SUP and ocean ski paddlers, you might have enough wind through the afternoons for a north to south downwind run with a little bit of swell to chase as well.
For those looking for calm and gentle conditions though, maybe consider hitting the protected beaches through the very early mornings.
Events
Good luck to those local surf lifesavers competing today and tomorrow at the Maroochy Surf Classic at Maroochydore, Sunshine Coast.
