South Australian Forecast (issued Wednesday 20th December)

Best Days: South Coast Thursday and Friday mornings, Mid Coast for a slide on the longboard tomorrow and Friday morning

Recap

Light variable winds and a small 2ft of swell across Middleton yesterday morning, better out at Waits and Parsons. The Mid Coast was tiny to flat.

Smaller clean surf was again seen down South this morning, while the Mid Coast remained around 0.5ft.

This week and weekend (Jan 21 - 24)

South Coast: Later today an increase in new SW swell should be seen ahead of a stronger SW groundswell tomorrow, generated the last few days by a healthy polar frontal progression.

Middleton should offer good 3-4ft+ sets with 5-6ft waves at Waits and Parsons.

A drop in size is due into Friday, steadying as a reinforcing S/SW groundswell fills in. This swell is currently being generated by a secondary strong polar front currently south-west of Victoria.

Middleton should continue to offer 3ft+ sets with 4-5ft waves at Waits and Parsons, easing from 3ft and 3-5ft respectively Saturday morning.

Winds are still a little tricky, buy we should see variable breezes from the east tomorrow morning creating workable conditions, while better variable tending light N/NW breezes are due Friday morning ahead of a gusty S'ly change through the afternoon.

Unfortunately Saturday will see lingering and moderate to fresh S'ly winds in the wake of Friday's change, with fresh S/SE winds Sunday.

Mid Coast: Later today a tiny increase in new SW groundswell to the 1ft range should be seen, with tomorrow's stronger SW swell providing 1ft+ sets on the favourable parts of the tide.

A drop back from 1ft or so is then due Friday. Tiny 0.5-1ft sets are due to continue through the weekend from some small reinforcing SW swell pulses with workable winds each morning.

Next week onwards (Jan 25 onwards)

South Coast: A small and weak mid-period SW swell is due into Monday from a weak polar front moving through our swell window over the weekend.

This will only keep small 2ft sets hitting Middleton with 3ft+ waves at Waits and Parsons Monday morning, before fading into the afternoon and further Tuesday.

A strengthening and slow moving high pressure ridge moving in from the west will bring with it strengthening SE-S/SE winds, creating poor conditions and kicking up small levels of weak S/SE windswell.

Mid Coast. The Mid will become effectively flat from Monday and continue so through most of next week unfortunately.

At this stage there's no end in sight to this blocking pattern, but more on this Friday.