Well, it was another great start to the week in terms of beach conditions, with light winds and a gentle ocean, as well as more warm days with high humidity, but the gusty SE winds arrived by Wednesday afternoon along with a few scattered showers.
Looking ahead to today and also across the weekend and the forecast suggests we are in for windy conditions, along with warm temperatures and scattered showers – but at least the humidity levels should start to ease.
This morning will bring E/SE winds at around 15 to 20 knots before increasing to 20+ knots through this afternoon.
Tomorrow will then bring S/SE winds in the morning at around 15 knots before swinging from the E/SE and increase to 20 to 25 knots through the afternoon.
Sunday will be very similar, with S/SE to E/SE winds at 15 to 20 knots.
Swimming
The swimming conditions were great up until about Wednesday this week, but they soon became choppy and messy from about midday Wednesday onwards as the gusty SE winds arrived.
Unfortunately, the windy conditions will remain over the coming days, which means the open and exposed beaches will be quite messy and choppy, with plenty of wave action and lots of water movement, including a side sweep that will push from south to north.
A word of warning for swimmers too, with very large morning high tides over the coming days set to cause lots of water movement during the run-out stage of the tide, so please avoid the creek and river mouths where the tidal currents will be very strong.
The best time for a swim will be through the mornings from early-morning through until around mid-morning while the winds are lighter and the tide higher.
The best beaches for swimmers will likely be Hervey Bay and Agnes Water, with Nielson Park Beach and Moore Park Beach the better options locally.
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 pm 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 and Agnes Water.
Please note: These are minimum patrol times – some locations may have longer hours of patrol time
Surfing
Local board-riders have been able to find plenty of waves about the local beaches this week, with plenty of clean, fun waves about earlier in the week.
Whilst the wave heights have remained since then, the stronger onshore winds have messed up the wave quality, but the size has remained and in fact should even increase slightly across the weekend.
There should be plenty of waves about over the coming days, but the trick will be to pick the right stage of the tide and hope for favourable winds that will not mess-up the waves too much.
Agnes Water, Nielson Park Beach, Mon Repos and Moore Park Beach will likely be the best options over the coming days, so enjoy it while it lasts.
For the SUP and ocean ski paddlers, you should have plenty of wind over the coming days for some south to north downwind runs – you just might have to contend with a E/NE swell direction.
For those looking for calm and gentle conditions though, you will likely have to hit the inland, protected waterways.
Events
Good luck to the local surf lifesavers that will compete at Broadbeach (Gold Coast) this weekend in the 2024 Queensland Surf Rescue Championships.
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