Eastern Tasmania Surf Forecast by Steve Shearer (issued Wed 12th July)

Features of the Forecast (tl;dr)

• Fresh W’ly to NW’ly winds most of this week with minor NE windswell wrap Thurs/Fri
• Likely tiny surf over the weekend and extending into next week with continuing strong W-NW winds
• Possible small NE windswell wrap later next week

Recap

Tiny/flat surf yesterday with minor amounts of NE swell wrapping in today in the 1ft range or less under fresh NW winds. 

This week and next week (Jul 12 - 21)

A large high (1030 hPa) is now drifting across Southern NSW, in the process of setting up a ridge along the sub-tropical to tropical Eastern Seaboard, with typically lighter winds along the temperate NSW coast. Cold fronts are passing across the Island and the high pressure will now exert a blocking effect, steering fronts well away from the swell window or ensuring a zonal (W-E) flow through the end of the week and into the weekend.

Zonal fronts being deflected by blocking high= tiny surf and W'ly winds

In the short run and fresh to strong NW winds continue through Thurs and Fri. We may see small amounts of NE windswell wrap from gale force NW winds across Bass Strait with 2ft sets Thurs, possibly a notch bigger Fri. 

W to W/NW winds continue across the weekend with a strong ridge between the high and approaching fronts. No real S swell is expected from the zonal fetches so we’ll be relying on small amounts of NE windswell wrap Sat, less than 2ft and easing. Size drops further into Sun with tiny/flat surf likely. 

Into next week and there’s little change to the pattern expected. Fresh and gusty W to NW winds and tiny surf.

Thurs/Fri looks the most promising for small amounts of NE windswell wrap from gale force pre-frontal NW winds across Bass Strait but we’ll have to see how it’s shaping up next week.

Check back Fri for the latest.