Eastern Tasmania Surf Forecast by Steve Shearer (issued Fri May 20th)

Features of the Forecast (tl;dr)

• Leftovers Sat, easing further Sun with light winds
• Small SSE groundswell Mon PM, Tues/Wed
• Small NE windswell Fri/Sat

Recap

South swells have been in the water since the last f/cast, with size in the 3-4ft range yesterday and SW/S winds. Today has held size in the 4ft range at S facing breaks with SW winds.

This weekend and next (May 20 - 27)

The frontal progression responsible for the S swell pulses over the last couple of days is now on the New Zealand side of the Tasman, with a large high approaching Tasmania setting up a firm ridge along the NSW coast.

That leaves our weekend f/cast fundamentally unchanged.

High pressure remains west of Tasmania during Sat with weak SW winds on offer as fronts well to the south pass through the Southern Ocean. Expect S swell in the 2-3ft range, easing during the day.

Light winds from the SW continue Sunday with small leftover S swell and a slight bump in size during the day, not exceeding 2ft.

Into next week and light winds and small SSE groundswell pads out Mon and Tues. High pressure slowly drifts over the state, bring light winds, tending to NE sea breezes by Wed. The consolidation of storm activity south of New Zealand is going to continue to send long period SSE swell into Wed, with surf heights up around 2-3ft, with long waits for sets. That swell then eases back through Thurs with a few 2ft sets on offer.

Storm activity under South Island sends small SSE groundswell to Tas

By Thurs next week high pressure will have drifted out into the Tasman and NE winds off the western flank of the high generate NE windswell for NETas. Expect size to build into the 2ft range Fri, and at this stage it looks like there should still be some small fun waves for Sat in the 2ft range with offshore winds.

Longer term and there’s a good chance we’ll see small surf after next weekend as a cut-off low approaches from the west and Tradewinds aim up too far north to be of use.

Check back Mon for a full update and have a great weekend!