Eastern Tasmanian Surf Forecast by Steve Shearer (issued Wed February 22nd)

Features of the Forecast (tl;dr)

• Easing windswell Wed with S/SW tending E/SE then NE winds
• Building N/NE windswell later Thu with N/NW tending strong N/NE winds
• Fun N/NE windswell Fri with strong N/NE winds, lighter and N/NW early
• Building N/NE windswell Sat with N/NW tending strong N/NE winds, extending into Sun
• Stronger N/NE windswell Mon, with winds tending NW in the a’noon
• Easing N/NE windswell Tues with offshore winds

Recap

Small S swell yesterday with S facing beaches seeing some 3ft surf, tiny elsewhere. Size had eased back with almost all beaches seeing surf less than 1-1.5ft under light NE winds. 

This week and weekend (Feb 22 - 26)

Strong high pressure (1035 hPa) is now moving SE of Tasmania with settled conditions expected. As the high moves East we’ll see NE winds develop in the NETas swell window.

In the short run and we’ll see NE winds tend N’ly and freshen tomorrow with surf from the same direction perking up into the 2ft range during the a’noon.

More of the same is expected Fri, with mod/fresh NNE-N wind and NE windswell building further into the 2-3ft range by close of play.

The fetch is expected to be persistent over the weekend and as wavelength draws out we should see surf quality improve. Expect N-NNE winds through the weekend  with a slow build in size expected. Around 3ft though Sat with Sun pushing further into the 3-4ft range.

Monday looks even juicier. An approaching trough of low pressure tightens pressure gradients and the fetch really winds up in the swell window. That should see sizey NE swell in the 5-6ft range. Be on the look-out for a wind shift to the NW or even W/NW as he trough approaches through the a’noon.

Fetch muscles up later Sun with plenty of juice Mon

Further ahead and we’ll see a fairly rapid easing trend Tues with excellent offshore winds as the trough passes to the south.

A S’ly change Wed looks to offer some small S swell of no real quality later Wed into Thurs.

Declining surf into the first week of Autumn is expected.

We do have an active tropics expected but at the moment all the action is too far north for Tasmania. 

We’ll keep tabs on that and report back Fri. Seeya then.