South Australian surf forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Monday 23rd March)

Best Days: Surf Coast Saturday, both coasts Monday, beaches Tuesday

Recap

A good swell running on the coast Saturday morning though with less than ideal conditions, best suited for keen surfers and Sunday morning became poor with fresher onshore winds. The Mid Coast saw a little more size than expected with 1-1.5ft of clean leftover swell from Friday, tiny yesterday.

Today we've got a touch better conditions with plenty of size left from a new pulse of S/SW groundswell yesterday afternoon, clean on the Mid Coast but tiny.

This week and weekend (Mar 24 - 29)

Looking at the outlook for the coming week and besides Wednesday, every morning should offer lighter winds and workable waves down South, great into the end of the week.

Tomorrow morning we'll see light to moderate E'ly breezes, tending E/NE at times along with a reinforcing pulse of S/SW groundswell.

This groundswell and the swells before it have been generated by a progression of polar fronts under the influence of an amplification of the Long Wave Trough, moving across us and further east.

Tomorrow's swell was produced over the weekend, and we should see Middleton holding around 3ft to occasionally 4ft, tiny on the Mid Coast, easing back into Wednesday to 3ft or so but with less favourable moderate SE tending fresh S/SE winds.

Into the late afternoon and more so Thursday a new SW groundswell is expected, generated by a deepening low south of WA, with a burst of W/SW gales moving east, reaching severe-gale for a short period.

The groundswell is due later in the day with Middleton likely to reach 3-4ft by dark, easing from a similar size on Thursday morning as winds shift back around to the E/NE-NE.

Friday will be the pick though for the exposed beaches as the swell eases back but steadies to 2-3ft off Middleton with a light offshore N/NE ahead of weak sea breezes.

Over this period the Mid Coast will be tiny, maybe pulsing to 0.5-1ft later Wednesday and Thursday morning but that's the best of it.

The weekend will be nice and clean with offshore N/NE tending N/NW winds but the swell on a downwards trend from 2ft at Middleton Saturday, while a background SW groundswell may provide a kick to 2ft+ late in the day, easing back from 2ft+ Sunday.

There may be a window of light offshore winds at dawn Sunday ahead of S'ly change but we'll have to review this on Wednesday.

Moving into next week and we've got a bit of Southern Ocean storm activity on the cards with a moderate sized + long-period SW groundswell on the cards. Local winds look to be out of the eastern quadrant as a high moves in initially, better mid-late next week, but we'll look at this again Wednesday.