South Australian Surf Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Wednesday January 27th)

Best Days: Tomorrow morning selected spots down South, Monday morning down South, Mid Coast for the keen Monday afternoon and Tuesday

Features of the Forecast (tl;dr)

• S/SE windswell for tomorrow AM, easing with E/NE tending S/SW winds
• Inconsistent SW groundswell building Sat PM, easing Sun but with S-SE winds
• Cleaner Mon AM with a drop in swell and variable winds ahead of a SW change
• New SW groundswell for Mon PM and Tue but with SW-S winds

Recap

Onshore, small surf down South yesterday, while our inconsistent W/SW groundswell provided 1-1.5ft sets on the Mid Coast as the early big tide drained away, wind affected and not great into the afternoon. Today the swell has faded and the South Coast remains poor.

This week and next (Jan 26 – Feb 5)

The rest of the week isn't too crash hot but there'll be options for a surf for those with low expectations.

Tomorrow morning, winds should ease and swing to the E/NE down South, but swell wise we'll be looking at a S/SE windswell generated by strong E/SE-SE winds south of us today. 2-3ft sets are due across Middleton, smaller towards Goolwa and bigger to the west, though easing through the day.

Friday will then be a lay day with a shift in winds to the S/SW as a deepening surface trough-come low to our east starts to dip south along with a low point in swell. Variable winds are possible at dawn but the surf will be minimal.

We then look at the inconsistent, long-period SW groundswell due into Saturday afternoon and Sunday. The low linked to this swell is currently generating a great fetch of severe-gale to storm-force W'ly winds, just east of the Heard Island region. The low will weaken today while dipping east-southeast, leaving a strong, inconsistent and good long-period SW groundswell to travel out towards us.

The swell is due to arrive Saturday and will slowly build through the day, reaching 3-4ft+ by dark on the South Coast, across Middleton, tiny and to 1ft on the Mid Coast. A peak is due overnight, with the swell easing Sunday morning from a similar 3-4ft+ across Middleton with 1ft sets continuing on the Mid, then easing into the afternoon.

Unfortunately winds look to spoil the entire swell with a fresh S/SW tending S/SE breeze Saturday (S/SE early on the Mid), SE tending S/SE on Sunday.

Monday morning looks like the window for the South Coast as winds become variable, though the swell will have eased back to 2-3ft across Middleton, tiny on the Mid.

Into Monday afternoon and Tuesday, a reinforcing pulse of SW groundswell is due, produced by a secondary polar front firing up on the back of the current low, generating a fetch of W/SW gales in our distant swell window. This front will weaken but maintain a fetch of strong W/SW winds under the country on Saturday, followed by possibly yet another front.

The position of this frontal system won't be too favourable for the Mid with tiny 1-1.5ft sets due into Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, while the South Coast looks to persist around 3ft+. Unfortunately winds look to persist out of the S'th Tuesday in the wake of a change Monday, SE-S/SE on Wednesday, limiting surfing options. Longer term there's no real break to the trend of small-moderate sized swells and winds from the south-eastern quadrant, though more on this Friday.