Central QLD Forecaster Notes by Steve Shearer (issued on Wed 25th May)

This weekend and next week (May25-June3)

Central QLD: Get in while you can. Surf easing to tiny/flat by the weekend

Last days of an incredible run of E swell ahead, so get in if you can.

It's been an incredible run of surf, coming to an end this weekend

Synoptic pattern still has a ground-hog day feel to it, with a large, slow moving high inching it’s way across the Tasman and a coastal trough lying parallel to almost the entire East Coast. A series of powerful fronts and complex low pressure systems riding up the long wave trough in New Zealand longitudes are now reaching their final stages, with a little more SSE groundswell to come in. Attention will still be focused on the tropics/sub-tropics as a surface low forms at the northern end of the trough off the CQ coast through Thurs/Fri and tracks southwards into the weekend, dragging the fetch southwards away from the CQ swell window and seeing surf go tiny to flat over the weekend.

We’ll see winds tend SE through Thurs and then more S’ly Fri as the surface low forms and starts to track south.

Thurs sees plenty of leftover E/SE swell in the 2ft range but by Fri we’ll see surf on the downslope, with morning size in the 2ft range down to 1-2ft during the day.

Into the weekend and we’ll see surf ease back to marginal levels Sat with some leftover 1ft surf and offshore winds.

By Sunday surf will be tiny and better for fishing than surfing.

Into next week and a cold outbreak sweeps up over the SE of the country , with winds tending NW into CQ before another weak ridge mid week.

At this stage it looks like a flat spell ahead, possibly extending into the first week of June, although weak Tradewinds may see a slight increase in size by next weekend.

Check back Fri for the latest.