Well, yet again we have had a mixed week of weather across the local region, with periods of showers and rain mixed in with blue skies and sunshine, but the winds have been moderate to strong for the most part – particularly through Wednesday night into Thursday.
Looking ahead to today and across the weekend, the forecast suggests more partly cloudy skies with the continued chance of scattered showers and unfortunately, more moderate to strong winds.
The winds will be at the strongest through today and this afternoon in particular, before they gradually ease across the weekend, although they will still be quite moderate in strength.
This morning’s winds will be from the S/SE at around 15 knots before they swing more from the E/SE and increase to 20 to 25 knots through this afternoon.
Tomorrow will bring E/SE winds at 15 to 20 knots and then Sunday’s forecast suggests we are in for E/SE winds at around 15+ knots.
Swimming
The swimming conditions have not been great during this past week, particularly on those open and exposed beaches, with messy and rough conditions combined with plenty of swell and associated water movement.
These messy and rough conditions will continue into today and then across the weekend but the ocean will gradually start to settle a little by Sunday.
The open and exposed beaches will again be the worst for swimmers, with strong side currents pushing from south to north, but if you can find those protected locations out of the wind, the conditions will be slightly better.
Hervey Bay will be by far the best for swimmers in the Wide Bay Region but locally beaches such as Moore Park, Nielson Park Beach and Agnes Water will be the better options.
Hit the beaches through the early mornings or else from late morning to early afternoon.
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 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 time.
Surfing
There has been plenty of swell and plenty of quality surfing conditions across local beaches this week, particularly if you were able to time your surf with the best wind and tide conditions.
Yesterday did see the waves become very blown out and messy and this will probably continue into today but there has been plenty of size about to enjoy.
We can expect the wave heights to drop through today but there should still be plenty of fun waves about across the weekend to enjoy – and hopefully the wind drops out!
Hit the beaches early, or else on the last few hours of the incoming tide, with Agnes Water, Nielson Park Beach, Moore Park Beach and Mon Repos all worth checking out.
For the SUP and ocean ski paddlers, there will be plenty of south to north downwind fun for the experienced paddlers, but for those looking for gentle and calm conditions, you will need to head to the inland, protected waterways where you can escape the wind and the messy conditions.
Events
Good luck to the small group of local surf lifesavers who will be competing across today and the weekend at the 2024 Queensland Surf Life Saving Championships on the Gold Coast.
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