South Australian Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Monday 8th January)

Best Days: Mid Coast Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, South Coast mid-late Wednesday morning, Thursday, early Friday

Recap

Great waves across the South Coast swell magnets Saturday morning with hot offshore winds and great weather ahead of a change. The Mid Coast was tiny and a no go.

Into Sunday however we saw a strong W/SW groundswell fill in across the Mid Coast with pumping 2-3ft surf with favourable winds all day. The South Coast was tiny and onshore, building later in the day.

Today the surf has dropped a touch across the Mid Coast to 2ft but will hold all day owing to a reinforcing W/SW swell. We'll likely see 2ft+ sets on the incoming tide. The South Coast remained average with onshore 2-3ft surf off Middleton.

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This week and weekend (Jan 9 – 14)

Onshore winds will unfortunately persist across the South Coast tomorrow out of the southern quadrant, with an early low point in swell ahead of a new mix of W/SW-SW swells through the afternoon.

A long-range SW swell that was generated south-west of WA over the weekend should fill in, along with a mid-period W/SW swell from a weak front pushing through the Bight today.

The morning looks to come in around 1-2ft on the Mid Coast, kicking to a more consistent 2ft through the afternoon with improving S/SW tending S'ly winds (S/SE late).

The South Coast will likely be back to 2ft+ across Middleton, increasing to 3ft.

Wednesday morning should reveal similar sized surf across both coasts, easing from 2ft on the Mid Coast and 3ft off Middleton as winds swing E/NE-NE through the morning (ahead of sea breezes). This will create improving conditions down South and good waves on the Mid.

We'll see the swell continue to ease Thursday morning but into the afternoon, some new SW groundswell is due, followed by a better pulse Friday, generated by the final flurry of frontal activity through our swell window south of WA over the coming days.

The swell won't be as favourably aligned for the Mid Coast, with surf to 1-1.5ft due Thursday afternoon and Friday, while Middleton should build back to 2-3ft on the sets.

Winds on Thursday will be even more favourable for the South Coast, swinging from the NE to N/NE and variable into the afternoon, with Friday only offering a short window of opportunity with an early N/NW breeze, giving into a gusty W/SW change mid-morning.

Now, this front will bring with it an increase in W/SW windswell later in the day on the Mid, but a stronger front firing up on its tail should produce some stronger W/SW swell for later Saturday and more so Sunday.

This swell looks to come in around 2ft+ on the Mid Coast and 3-4ft across Middleton but with S/SW winds, that may tend S/SE on the Mid into the afternoon. More on this Wednesday though.