South Australian Surf Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Monday June 17th)

Best Days: South Coast tomorrow morning, Mid Coast Thursday afternoon and Friday, South Coast Saturday and Sunday mornings

Features of the Forecast (tl;dr)

• Inconsistent W/SW swell tomorrow, with a weaker swell Wed
• Mod-fresh N/NE tending E/NE winds tomorrow, N/NW tending variable Wed, strengthening into the evening
• W/SW-S/SW tending fresh S/SE winds Thu
• Moderate + sized W/SW groundswell building Thu, easing Fri
• Mod-fresh S/SE winds Fri
• N tending E/NE Sat, strengthening N Sun

Recap

A mixed weekend of surf with tiny waves inside the gulf and onshore surf down South Saturday, lumpier and better yesterday with a new, inconsistent SW groundswell.

Today is cleaner down South but small with tiny waves inside the gulf.

This week and weekend (Jun 18 - 23)

As touched on last week, the coming days are slow and not overly exciting thanks to the strong low in the southern Tasman Sea and high pressure to our west dominating our synoptic pattern.

With this we’ve had our western and south-western swell windows shut down, with small, inconsistent levels of W/SW swell due tomorrow, fading Wednesday.

Conditions will be great for the exposed beaches tomorrow with a N/NE offshore, tending E/NE into the afternoon with Wednesday offering N/NW winds, tending variable before strengthening later.

This strengthening pattern will be thanks to a weakening mid-latitude frontal system moving in from the west, though forming into a low right over us on Wednesday evening, resulting in funky winds Thursday.

We’re looking at W/SW tending S/SW winds, freshening from the S/SE during the afternoon as the low moves east.

Swell wise, the earlier stages of the frontal system should generate a moderate + sized pulse of W/SW groundswell and mid-period energy with both arriving through Thursday but peaking Friday morning.

The Mid Coast should reach 2-3ft Thursday afternoon, easing Friday from a similar size with the South Coast seeing 4ft sets Friday morning, easing through the day.

As touched on those S/SE winds should favour the Mid Coast later Thursday, persisting Friday.

The weekend will be better for the South Coast as winds shift back offshore along with easing levels of swell, best Saturday and down from 2-3ft, smaller Sunday.

Longer term there’s nothing major due through the rest of the week until later and more so the following weekend but the models diverge a little regarding this. So lower the expectations thus period.