Eastern Tasmania Surf Forecast by Guy Dixon (issued Friday 15th January)

Best Days: South swell magnets tomorrow morning and Sunday morning, Wednesday and Thursday protected northern corners

Recap: Easing S/SE and NE swells yesterday with offshore winds, with a small pulse of S'ly groundswell today.

This weekend (Saturday 16th - Sunday 17th):

Today's short range southerly energy will dry up leading into the weekend, however a small pusle generated by core fetches further south should maintain options in the 2ft range for the exposed swell magnets on Saturday, smaller elsewhere.

We will have to rely on a mix of left overs and weak, occasional southerly energy generated by frontal activity over the Southern Ocean. South swell magnets should see subtle ebbs and pulses of background energy in the 1-2ft range during Sunday, smaller on Monday.

Next week (Monday 18th onward):

A more notable north/northeasterly fetch looks to develop over eastern parts of Bass Strait late on Monday, gradually increasing in strength, while also growing in area.

At first, the surf should start out small, with only hints of bumpy windswell building in the afternoon.

Tuesday should see open beaches build to the 2-3ft range, although bumpy at many spots due to the northerly component breezes. Winds may tend north/northwesterly at times, giving a period of workable conditions.

By Wednesday, this fetch looks to be at its peak, with 25-35kt winds hugging the east coast of Tasmania, extending to the south coast of NSW.

This northeasterly windswell will increase across the open beaches to the 3-4ft+ range although again, winds may cause a few issues in terms of wave quality. At this stage, breezes look to prevail from the north/northwest, hopefully enough to remian clean/workable. The early session will easily hold the best chances for a wave as breeze are lightest and more northwesterly.

Late on Wednesday evening and into Thursday morning, the aforementioned northerly fetch should extend up the NSW coast, providing a good source of swell even once the local part of this system moves offshore.

Thursday is likely to see the surf ease back to around the 3ft range, but holding fairly steadily.

Breezes look much more favourable on this day also, tending northwesterly as the southern flank of this fetch moves offshore as mentioned above. This is certainly a day to keep an eye on.

More detail to come next week.