Well, it has been a great week of weather during this past week, with more mild temperatures, mostly sunny skies and light winds – perfect weather for hitting the beach and a bit unusual considering we are still in winter!
As we look ahead to today, and then across the weekend, the forecast is looking pretty similar too, with light to moderate but variable winds, more mild temperatures and mostly sunny skies too – albeit a little bit of cloud cover on the weekend.
Today’s winds will be variable and shifting direction quite a bit throughout the day, but they only be around 5 to 10 knots in strength.
Tomorrow then brings a S/SE to E/SE wind change that will gust to around 15 knots, before Sunday then brings lighter S/SE to E/SE winds at around 10 knots.
Swimming
This past week has brought great swimming conditions across all local beaches, with the water clarity slowly clearing up after the previous week’s rainfall.
Looking at the forecast, the swimming conditions should remain great throughout today thanks to the light and variable winds, before tomorrow’s slightly stronger winds bring choppy conditions on those more open and exposed beaches.
But Sunday should again see better swimming conditions as the winds ease again.
All beaches will have great swimming conditions today, with Elliott Heads and Kelly’s Beach slightly better by this afternoon.
Then across the weekend, the better locations will be Agnes Water, Hervey Bay, Nielson Park Beach and Moore Park Beach.
The best time to hit the ocean will be through the early mornings whilst the winds are lighter, or again from mid-morning to early afternoon whilst the tide is high.
Please check with the 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!
Weekdays: 9 am to 5 pm at Agnes Water only
Saturday and Sunday: 9 am to 5 pm at Kelly’s Beach and Agnes Water only
Surfing
This past week has not brought a great deal of joy for board-riders looking for waves but there have been some very small, clean waves about for the longboards and the SUP’s.
Looking ahead to the coming days, and whilst the forecast is not great, there should be a slight increase in wave heights to at least provide a few more small, but fun-sized waves to enjoy on the longboards.
Check out the usual locations, with the mornings probably being the better time of the day on the incoming tide.
Events
The Lifesaving World Championships 2024 will commence today on the Gold Coast and continue through until Sunday 8 September.
Good luck to the small number of local surf lifesavers that will be competing from today until next Wednesday in the Masters age categories.
