South Australian Surf Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Wednesday April 13th)

Best Days: Tomorrow, Friday morning, Saturday and Saturday across the South Coast

Features of the Forecast (tl;dr)

• Mod + S/SW groundswell for later today, easing tomorrow with a reinforcing SW groundswell for the PM
• Light N/NW tending variable winds tomorrow (freshening NE tending variable on the Mid)
• Easing surf Fri with variable tending weak S winds
• Building S/SW groundswell Sat PM, easing Sun with light N/NE tending SE winds Sat and fresh N tending W/NW and then late W/SW winds Sun
• Inconsistent SW groundswell building Mon PM with S/SE winds, easing Tue with light E/NE tending SE winds

Recap

Monday's tiny W/SW swell faded through yesterday back to 1ft on the Mid Coast, with the South Coast seeing easing S'ly sets from 2-3ft with easterly winds.

This morning we've got a temporary low point in swell ahead of our strong S/SW groundswell this afternoon, generated by a strong polar low earlier this week. We should see this swell kicking later afternoon and reaching a strong 4-5ft across Middleton but with fresh E'ly breezes.

This week and next (Apr 14 - 22)

This afternoon's strong pulse of S/SW groundswell should peak this evening and start to ease through tomorrow under a light N/NW offshore breeze down South. The Mid Coast looks to see freshening NE winds, with both regions seeing variable breezes into the afternoon.

Size wise Middleton should ease back from a strong though inconsistent 4ft on the sets, while later in the day some reinforcing SW groundswell is due. This is being generated by a great fetch of severe-gale W/NW winds pushing through our swell window today and should maintain 3-4ft sets late, easing from 3ft+ Friday morning.

During this whole swell event the Mid Coast will remain tiny owing to the southerly direction of the swell and shadowing effects of Kangaroo Island.

Winds on Friday look best early and light and variable before a weak trough brings a weak S'ly change through the afternoon.

Moving into the weekend, we've got a slight upgrade in the S/SW groundswell due on Saturday with a small but sustained fetch of W/SW gales forecast to be generated through our south-western then southern swell window from today through Friday morning.

Early Saturday we'll be falling in between swells again with slow 2-3ft sets across Middleton but expect a strong pulse of size from midday/early afternoon, reaching 4ft+ by close of play. The Mid Coast may see tiny 0.5-1ft sets and winds will be decent again, light N/NE offshore in the morning ahead of weak SE sea breezes. Sunday looks the pick though as the swell eases back from 3-4ft across Middleton with a fresh N/NW breeze, tending W/NW into the afternoon ahead of a late SW change.

This change looks to leave S/SE-SE winds into Monday morning with smaller surf in the morning ahead of an inconsistent SW groundswell through the afternoon, generated by a more distant polar low.

Looking more broadly at next week and light winds are due each morning and we're looking at one of the largest swell producers we've seen all year firing up south-west of Western Australia on the weekend. This looks to produce a large S/SW groundswell for later next week but more on this and the local conditions Friday.