South Australian Forecast (issued Monday 16th June)

Best Days: Nearly ever day over the coming period

Recap

The Mid Coast offered the best waves Saturday with a strong onshore down South and bumpy 1ft to occasionally 2ft waves on the Mid.

A strong new S/SW groundswell filled in Sunday though as morning onshores eased through the day, with the swell pulsing to 5-6ft around Victor Harbor, providing fun waves for the late session.

Today the swell was easing but still solid across the South Coast and clean while the Mid Coast still had size but was poor with the onshore winds. An onshore change has since moved through down South though, creating deteriorating conditions.

This week (Jun 16 - 20)

The front linked to today's onshore change is producing another pulse of medium sized SW groundswell for both coasts tomorrow, with the Mid expected to continue in the 1-2ft range, while down South, Middleton should ease from 3-4ft with larger 5ft sets out at Waits.

Winds should be great for both coasts, tending variable and locally offshore creating clean conditions that should persist into the afternoon as a ridge of high pressure moves in from the west.

Wednesday will be great for exposed beaches down South with offshore N/NE winds and a small-moderate swell.

Into the end of the week a mix swells with favourable winds for the South Coast are due.

The first pulses on Thursday will be a mix of long-range and very inconsistent W/SW groundswell and better S/SW groundswell. The first has been generated by a vigorous and long-lived frontal progression through the Indian Ocean, starting later last week under South Africa and ending up off WA tomorrow. The better S/SW groundswell is currently being generated by a healthy polar front to the south-west of the country, with both swells coming in Thursday with the W/SW groundswell peaking through the morning, while the S/SW groundswell should fill in during the afternoon.

The Mid Coast should see very inconsistent 1-1.5ft waves on Thursday while the South Coast should build to 3ft across most locations with bigger 4ft sets at Waits into the afternoon. Strong N/NE winds will favour Victor and create choppy waves on the Mid.

The S/SW groundswell should ease through Friday but a secondary pulse of long-range W/SW groundswell should arrive, mixed in with some localised windswell on the Mid, coming in at stormy 2ft+ with strong NW tending W'ly winds, while Middleton should hold around 2-3ft with 3-4ft sets out at Waits.

This weekend onwards (Jun 21 onwards)

The pick of the weekend would be Sunday across the South Coast, as moderate levels of background SW groundswell persist across the state with light offshore NW winds. Saturday should be clean for a period early with a W'ly breeze but this swill swing SW before lunch.

Longer term the models diverge on how a mid-latitude trough and possible low develop as it moves in from the west early next week, so check back Wednesday for an update on this.