Well after another weekend of stifling heat and humidity, together with improving beach weather, we saw more of the same on Monday and Tuesday – with Tuesday in particular being a sensational day, all day, at the beach (apart from that morning storm and rain)!
But as per usual things changed quickly through Wednesday and into Thursday with strong SE winds whipping up choppy and messy ocean conditions.
The SE winds have at least brought a little reprieve from the heat and humidity, but only a little!
Sunny skies should persist now for the next few days with just a little bit of cloud cover arriving by Sunday, whilst maximum temperatures will remain warm, and the winds should also ease back to only be light to moderate in strength.
Today’s winds will be from the S/SE this morning at around 10 to 15 knots before they swing more from the E/SE during the day and increase to around 15 knots.
Tomorrow morning will bring very light E/SE winds at around 5 knots before they increase during the day to be around 10+ knots and then creeping towards 15+ knots in the late afternoon.
Sunday will then bring E/SE to E winds at around 10 to 15 knots.
Swimming
The swimming conditions were sensational from Sunday to Tuesday, and even early Wednesday morning this week, but they soon became choppy and messy from about midday Wednesday onwards as the gusty SE winds arrived.
The good news for beachgoers though is that these winds should ease through today and across the weekend to be light to moderate only – and the moderate winds should be mostly through the late afternoons only.
The early mornings will have lighter winds and in particular, Saturday morning should bring very light winds, so this will be a good time to hit the beach for a swim.
If you are looking for high tide conditions though, it would be best to wait until about midday to mid-afternoon, but conditions will start to get slightly choppy by this time of day and more so on those open and exposed beaches.
The best beaches for swimmers will likely be Hervey Bay, Agnes Water, Nielson Park Beach and Moore Park Beach.
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 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 Beach, Oaks Beach and Agnes Water, 1 am to 5 pm at Elliott Heads and Moore Park Beach.
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.
Surfing
As you would expect with such good swimming conditions early this week, the surf was pretty flat and almost non-existent, but the strong SE winds did bring some small waves through Wednesday afternoon and into Thursday, albeit choppy and messy.
The forecast for the next few days is not looking great either in terms of waves, but as per usual keep an eye on your favourite location across the weekend as there could be a few small waves about through the mornings to surprise you – particularly if the swell direction changes and turns more E or even E/NE.
Good luck.
For the SUP and ocean ski paddlers, you might have enough wind through the afternoons for a south to north downwind run.
For those looking for calm and gentle conditions though, maybe consider hitting the protected beaches through the very early mornings – and in particular on Saturday morning early!
Events
Good luck to those local surf lifesavers competing tomorrow at the WBC Branch 2024 North v South Teams Challenge being held at Agnes Water.
Other news:
