Central QLD Forecaster Notes by Steve Shearer (issued on Wed 18th May)

This week and next week (May18-28)

Central QLD: Another round of surf from Fri into the weekend.

Small surf has eased back to marginal levels .

A series of cold fronts with embedded troughs are now steaming into the Tasman Sea, anchored by a deep polar low which provided large swells for Victoria and New Zealand’s West Coast. Behind the frontal progression another monster high is travelling south of the Bight, ready to set up another ridge along the East Coast.

Following that an active tradewind pattern in the Coral Sea supplies another round of E swell for the region, with a trough of low pressure expected to form off the Capricorn Coast and energise further the E/SE winds off the CQ coast.

Short term surf is tiny through Thurs with size starting to increase Fri as the trough deepens and surf builds up into the 2ft range, 2-3ft by close of play.

Expect plenty of surf over the weekend as the trough lingers off the Wide Bay end of the coast and Tradewinds thicken up through the Central Coral Sea courtesy of an area of low pressure near New Caledonia. 

Expect fresh to strong SE to ESE winds over the weekend with surf to 3ft on Sat, building further to 3-4ft on Sunday.

There’ll be plenty of surf over the weekend.

Into next week and the coastal trough quickly dissipates as the fetch migrates E’wards. That will see surf dip down quickly through Mon into the 2-3ft range, smaller through the a’noon.

Weaker Tradewinds then see surf ease back into the 1-2ft range or less through Tues-Thurs.

A rebuild in the fetch through the Central Coral Sea is expected to see surf climb back up into the 2ft range later next week.

Check back Fri and we’ll see how it’s shaping up.