Central QLD Forecaster Notes by Steve Shearer (updated on Fri 12th Jan)

This weekend and next week (Jan12 -Jan19)

Central QLD: Much better outlook, finally, with  surf days ahead next week

Finally some good, fun surf.

A SE surge as a trough pushes in from the South Pacific has come in hot with fun size surf across CQ today.  We’ll see similar sized surf into tomorrow before an easing in the a’noon into Sun as the fetch breaks down.

Next week and a monsoon trough sits over Northern Australia terminating in the Coral Sea, with a strong high moving into the Tasman to start next week. The resulting SE surge up through the Tasman into the Coral Sea generates plenty of swell as the fetch spreads out across the Tasman. We should see surf build Tues into Wed with plenty of fun surf.

Very low confidence in the f/cast from mid next week as models struggle to resolve the southwards extension of the monsoon trough which buds off through the southern Coral Sea and into the Tasman. We may see troughs form small lows next week in the Northern Tasman, Coral Sea and near the North Island, each with E’ly fetches generating small swell pulses. Any of those systems could flare up next week, including form a Tropical cyclone off the QLD coast.

We can expect small pulses of swell from the E from mid next week - with potential for something juicier if one of the lows really winds up. 

With the current ultra troughy, unstable pattern and the Coral Sea a hot, soupy mess we can also expect revisions, possibly major on Mon.

Seeya then and have a great weekend!