South Australian Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Wednesday 18th January)

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Best Days:

Recap

A fun day of surf across the South Coast magnets yesterday with an offshore wind persisting most of the day. The Mid Coast was tiny early, but a great new W/SW swell kicked through the afternoon to 2ft as winds tended variable, creating clean glassy conditions.

Today the swell was struggling on the morning high tide and an inconsistent 1-1.5ft, but we should the swell kicking back to 1-2ft this afternoon on the turn of the tide as winds remain from the SE.

This week and weekend (Jan 19 - 22)

The South Coast is seeing a poor mix of S'ly windswell and W/SW swell today, but some better SW swell is due to build fill in tomorrow, generated by a weak front that's now crossing Tassie.

Middleton should offer 2-3ft waves with larger sets at Waits and Parsons, and winds will improve through the day with an E/NE tending NE breeze, possibly even further to the north into the afternoon as a weak low moves in from the west.

The Mid Coast will ease in size, dropping off from 1-1.5ft tomorrow morning.

Into Friday the western flank of the low will be impacting the coast, directing fresh onshore S/SW tending S'ly winds into the South Coast creating poor conditions, while the Mid will be tiny.

Our inconsistent but fun W/SW groundswell for the weekend is still on track, with a strong low pressure system forming in the Heard Island region earlier this week, projecting towards WA through our western swell window while producing a fetch of gale to severe-gale W/SW winds.

The low is currently weakening, leaving an inconsistent W/SW groundswell to travel towards us.

This swell is expected to build through Saturday reaching 2ft on the sets into the afternoon/evening, peaking overnight and easing from 1-1.5ft (maybe 2ft if we're lucky) Sunday morning.

The South Coast isn't due to see much size, with a small weak S'ly windswell being largest Saturday, and then Sunday when the swell peaks, only 1-2ft sets are due If that.

Winds on Saturday will be best for the Mid with a SE tending S/SE breeze, while both coasts will be clean Sunday under a morning offshore NE wind and then afternoon sea breezes.

Longer term more fun W/SW groundswell is due into all of next week, with a slow moving and persistent polar low from the south-east Indian Ocean expected to project up and through the Bight early next week.

Good amounts of W/SW swell are due into Tuesday but with S/SW winds, cleaner and easing Wednesday, but more on this Friday.