Massive, windy surf from TC Oma on the way
South-east Queensland and Northern NSW Surf Forecast by Ben Matson (issued Wednesday 20th February)
Best Days: Make the most of Thursday, as all bets are off from Friday through Monday: large trending very large to possibly massive surf, storm force winds and Victory-At-Sea conditions.
Recap: Tuesday delivered fantastic E’ly swells with light winds and sea breezes, and wave heights around the 3-4ft+ mark at exposed beaches in the north, smaller south from Ballina. Size eased to around 3ft this morning (and has abated a little more throughout the day), with smaller surf south from Ballina again. The leading edge of cyclone swell from TC Oma appears to have recently reached the Sunshine Coast, and is showing nicely on the Noosa surfcam (see images below, from about 4:30pm). There is (as yet) no sign of any energy on the buoys (though there is a delay on data feeds).
Noosa this afternoon
This week and weekend (Feb 21 onwards)
Today’s Forecaster Notes are brought to you by Rip Curl
Let’s be honest: these synoptic patterns are exhausting. Refreshing the buoy data and patiently watching the surfcams is an unusual method to drain the senses, but there ya go. I'm all out of nervous energy, and the surf's still small.
Anyway, I’ve already written a lot about TC Oma over the last week, including many theories about what may or may not happen from a number of scenarios.
As an example, one overlooked aspect (because it didn’t have an associated swell event) was the assessment of the barrier influence of the Chesterfield Islands - as suspected, it blocked all of the upstream NE swell generated near Vanuatu. But, coming to that conclusion requires as much analysis as estimating probable wave heights from TC Oma once it reaches maturity off the SE Qld coast.
On Wednesday, the forecast-decision-making-process had reached a crux: the previous near-rock-solid New Zealand trajectory was now at risk with ECMWF suggesting a stalling phase east from Byron Bay, and then a recurve back to the north-west.
As it turns out, EC was leading the pack: most of the other models have since followed suite.
Although now we’ve got that curveball partly out of the way, there’s a million other variables that may have a significant bearing on surf potential throughout the forecast period.
And to be honest, the SE Qld and Far Northern NSW coasts simply aren’t conditioned for swell events (and their accompanying winds) of this magnitude. Not only are we going to see a major disfiguration of many exposed coasts, there simply won’t be very many surf breaks handling this swell event.
I’d harbour a guess that the vast majority of surfers won’t actually surf between Friday and Monday or Tuesday because it’ll simply be too big and too windy. Unlike other Australian coasts, SE Qld and Far Northern NSW have a distinct shortage of locations that offer significant protection and shelter under exceptional swell events. And, most surfers are well and truly out of their comfort zone once wave heights are north of 6-8ft (me included!).
So on to the particulars: TC Oma is tracking towards SE Qld, at a speed conducive for a captured fetch scenario, which should enhance wave heights from its southern flank (the E/NE fetch). With 40-50kts within our swell window (core winds speeds are even higher), we’re going to see more than the 11-13 second swell periods at the coast, as estimated by the models (though not as high as the theoretical maximum, given the short travel distance).
I’m really not that confident on the actual size/timing split, but the E/NE swell trend will be upwards from Thursday into Friday, and then holding into Saturday and Sunday. This particular component will probably max out in the 8-10ft+ range across exposed coasts. Expect smaller surf through Thursday (say, building from 5-6ft to 6-8ft+), with smaller waves across protected spots.
As TC Oma pushes close to the coast, we’ll see strengthening southerly quadrant winds between it and the mainland (more S/SE across the Mid North Coast, but possibly even S/SW across northern regions such as the Sunny Coast). As a side note, these winds will need to be considered as to how they could affect local conditions at some breaks that may otherwise be instantly lighting up your radar.
At this stage later Friday, Saturday and Sunday could see storm force winds or greater, with destructive conditions across some exposed and/or elevated spots. Don’t take this for granted - it’s not an ordinary bout of gusty winds, it’s a slow moving, broad scale and long-lived pattern of dangerous weather conditions that will negatively affect the region for quite a while. The cumulative effect of very strong wind episodes of this magnitude is not a common occurence.
The other obvious by-product of this strengthening fetch is the generation is a very large secondary (tending primary) local SE thru’ S/SE swell.
Because the fetch will be on SE Qld’s doorstep, it’s hard to estimate wave heights. I’ll be brutally honest: I haven’t seen the models prog a system like this in our near swell window before, so all bets are off. Could be 15ft. Could be 20ft+. Most forecasting rules are out the window because we don’t know if a storm of this magnitude will have enough travel distance to generate truly huge surf (though sea/swell conditions recorded by wave buoys will likely break records over the coming week).
But with 40-50kts or more of sideshore wind, does it matter anyway?
This is one of those swells that could be too big for locations that rarely break. Anything is possible. I’m really not keen on hyperbole, but I’m also not one to sit on the fence - I can only call it as I see it. And that is, expect nothing short of Victory-At-Sea conditions just about everywhere with any kind of open exposure. To reiterate the obvious: don’t expect to surf much, if at all.
As a side note, the strongest part of the fetch will be mainly north from Byron, so because of the alignment, expect smaller surf and a little less wind (relatively speaking) as you head south from here.
To cap things off further, the weekend will see an unrelated southerly swell south of the border from a front entering the lower Tasman Sea. It’ll add another 4-6ft at south facing beaches.
And next week?
Anything is possible.
The latest GFS model run has TC tracking north-east of Fraser Island for a few days and then coming in for a second swing at the Sunshine and Gold Coasts later in the week (yes, really!), suggesting a possible coastal crossing across Stradbroke Island next Saturday. The other models meander the low further north with a possible coastal crossing around Mackay.
Whilst either of these specific scenarios is unlikely, it can’t be ruled out given the massive model variations in the last few days.
So the take home long term message is: we've got high uncertainty for all of next week, but regardless, TC Oma will remain some kind of influence for quite some time. We’re just not sure whether it’ll maintain very large surf, or just standard background easterly swell in the wake of its tour de force through the Coral Sea.
What a week!
See you Friday (and in the comments below prior to then).
Comments
Still nothing at the buoys...
H for hoax.
Well it was as boring as bat shit around here anyway with the same east swell pretty much closing out in most spots since xmas....so lets see how the dice roll,certainly going to be a different landscape this time next week.
B for Brewer Freeride
Drag it out from under the house..
I recall Steve saying something very similar just days before the Black Nor'Easter swell.
Worked then, hopefully works again.
HIDE
Unfortunately or fortunately I've hurt my foot and can't surf this swell :(
So dynamic and unpredictable, looks far too close to the mainland to be of any benefit no? Just wild, radical conditions. Be careful crew, it's gonna get hectic up there......good luck to all.
I'm feeling equally as drained hopefully the excitement comes back when my alarm goes off tomorrow AM might be river surfing only, Dylan graves is on his way over
Great note on the swell chart at the end of ya notes Ben, "That, my good friends, is Bonkas" That is 100% for sure and the perfect description of what is going to unfold.
Great reports worth every penny!
https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/coasts-waterways/beach/monitoring/wav...
Here we go...
Unreal. So I wasn’t seeing things on the Noosa cam!
Just lit a bonfire to welcome the new swell. Last time I did this I got the barrel of my life at 8ft+ speedies all the way into the boat harbour.
You mob should set up a feed with commentary on the cams like the WSL in that Cloudbreak swell..
First victim of TC Oma at Kirra ;p ..
Felt like weak 2ft+ trade-swell anyway..
Craig that looks like karmic retribution from the wax gods. Clean that filthy old muck off!! ;-)
First my wetty bucket, now my wax jobs. Yeah this one's due a re-wax.
I'm all forecasted out.
It's been great entertainment reading updates and comments...thanks everyone.
I kind of feel like that guy who drinks too hard and too early and misses the game.
And the buoys went yaah ...
Anyone got a link to a wave buoy I can check out ?
Take ya pick:
https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/coasts-waterways/beach/monitoring/wav...
Palm Beach (QLD)
Wonder if there’ll be any winners in the sand lottery come next week?
https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/coasts-waterways/beach/monitoring/wav...
Feeling very depressed about this TC now.
After all the hype and possible outcomes we are heading for the worst of all possible worlds.
No crossing so we don't get the rain we need, too close to the coast so we get smashed with wind and then a slow drift northward so we get mired in a post cyclone onshore muck instead of a storm clearing southward movement that might have heralded seasonal change.
At least the banks will get a desperately needed reset.
Haha, yeah not ideal at all eh.
Forecast or fortune telling, me thinks in 5 days you'll be back on here sprouting how awesome it was at "the Ox" ... love ya 'tell 'em nothin' take 'em nowhere' style ;)
Well called Guru...well called
Cheers for that , alsurf.
M’ba bouys have switched on !
Looks like 14” period just hit the Mooloolaba buoy.
^^ Anyone read people's comments before them haha. Love the enthusiasm but.
Let 'em go Craig....the froth is good for all!
Feelings for Jimmy and the crew running the Surf Fest in Byron the weekend, the Freestyle and Stoked session for the squirrels at Wategoes on Sunday morning might need jetski assists...
DI solid 4foot just before dark
Rainbow?
How's the crowd? repeat of TC winston?
There were a crap load of 4wd with boards on heading north on the highway at around lunch yesterday as I was heading back from the coast to Brisvegas.......
Double that for Dawn tmoro.
JTWC thrown in the towel, massive error margin! I made the move to my spot, but looking like I gotta go back to save my world!
B
Booked a ticket to the apple isle
JTWC finally dropped the soap and bent over
jeez hope oma dosent end up smashing Townsville again,last thing they need now is more water.
1ft in Coffs this morning, don’t know who does the Swellnet surf reports here but saying 2-3ft lol.
Come on mate, it's a big bigger than one foot.
But, lol.
Mate, i sat there watching it for 1 hour from 6-7, ok maybe 1 1/2 foot. Groms only were going out.
No where near 2-3ft, all the early surfers were going home, If it was there would of been 30 out not 10 groms.
Also thats Macauleys Beach not Park Beach as it says on the cam, its 1 k south :)
Jeez, it's looking super fun and bowly this morning.
Looks like she's a little slow on the upwards phase, though it'll trend up steadily as the day progresses. Some grinders at Noosa this AM!
Damn Noosa's pumping.
Easy overhead and a half just rolled through before.
Not a bad size for two thirds of the way down the point at Noosa.
Looks like my local might be about to turn on - finally!
I live in Wellington Point, Brisbane..... :-)
Sunday it will light up!!
Hidden gem:
https://www.wannasurf.com/spot/Australia_Pacific/Australia/QLD/Brisbane/...
Hint: read the comments!
Ha ha ha ha, as usual my pisstake is both old and has been done better by others.
Still checking on Sunday.
Now ive gotta get house insurance. Looks like we r going to get smashed
Anyone doin' the dash to Comboyuro?
Got a few screamers at Noosa pre-dawn on the lower tide
For those turning and burning, karma’s gonna getcha lol
Signs of impending madness: there are currently four jetskis sitting off the Pot at Noosa.
Correct me please.. but isn't it a surfing reserve and powered watercraft are prohibited within a certain distance? I've seen the lifeguards on Ski's ushering other away before.
Crowd is THICK at Noosa. No surprise ...
That’s nuts.
One set at (very high tide) Noosa. Third frame for a size reference (and an instant shot of jealousy).
Starting to show now.
Noosa 06:10am replay, 04:25 in, nice set, old mate with a couple cover ups bit further in.
man o'ma man Rainbow Bay looks insane on the cams.
Big tides already setting a few trees adrift around here. Watch out whilst you’re driving those skis boys.
I stopped surfing Noosa long ago. Crowds are more off-putting than onshores for me. Neeeeee jealousy here
Agreed! Definitely not worth the effort from what I've seen so far but I guess it's been so terrible for waves up there this summer that even hectic points will look inviting to most.
I flicked on the Noosa cam at about 8.40 (Adelaide time) just in time to see some lucky bugger get a 5-second stand-up barrel, only to get clipped on the way out. East coast dreaming right now, but you can keep the weekend.
Think ive got buckleys of getting anything on the goldy this weekend... looking way too out of control!
A few fun ones at Broken this morning. Zero people and a couple lining up amongst the wash throughs. Swell felt like it was building fast. Nice to feel a bit of energy in the ocean again. Stay safe legends!
Noosa replay 5:30am, roughly 3:50 in, hard too see the entry but pretty sure the person spends most of the time hiding from the sunrise with two whacks in between.
Saw that too, insane right!
That's fucken mental
High tide snapper looking good on the cam!
wonder what excuses the better boys are making for not heading out.
"mate i lent my sister my wax, so i gotta sit this one out, hope the banks will be good next week when its flat"
No excuses here. Just out of my aging league. Know your limits
@noosasurfclub
Wow! There's some energy in the shorey, foresure. Nice shot.
Inundation already at Burleigh. With a good increase in swell and a drop in pressure due when she nears the coast, this could be one to remember
Easy 6-8ft sets in front of the Swellnet office at Kingscliff right now. Nothin' but wash-throughs.
Also worth pointing out that (on the Gold Coast) we've got a negative low tide at 3:45pm (local), minus 0.07m.
So right now it's heaving on a very full-moon high tide.
Imagine what it's gonna do on a negative low tide with another two or three feet of groundswell on top?
Hmmmm, there's a couple of set-*%$, near A, S and T that I'd be taking a look at..... a little sneaky taste perhaps....
https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2014/03/17/photos-tropic...
Someone live stream it!!!!!
Been through the wringer, lost my beloved 4wd, anyone see a happy go lucky someone walking along a 4wd beach or track, stop say hello, and offer a lift plz, willing too sit anywhere that has enough room for a dog, not fussy. I have a X luke Egan board with the bulldozer logo thing on deck and bottom. Would very much appreciate it whole heartedly.
Surely this is a piss take to have your 4 most important GC cams down on a day like today? Crowd control possibly? Too much wind?
Hopefully its an unfortunate technical issue that you are working madly to rectify otherwise why am I paying my subscription?
All good back on!
Server overload! The whole country is watching...
We had a brief technical outage (likely due to the enormous traffic). Apologies for the inconvenience.
All good Ben, just adds to the anticipation. Kinda like a strip tease hey Gary!
With Gary's shows, much like the froth surrounding this cyclone's path, the thrill is that you can already see what's coming - it's just a matter of when & how it's going to be unleashed.
Noosa on the proper pump now. Relentless sets, plenty of barrels, plenty of size too. Must be hefty on the outside points.
That was hard work paddling against the sweep this arvo, jumped off flat rock at Nationals got out at carpark, paddled non stop , went backwards.Will be too big there and unruly from tomorrow onwards but gee i was pumping this morning and the last week or so.Knackered!
Toes on the nose.
Was easy 8-10ft sets at the ox for a while around 1230-1pm. Appears to have dropped temporarily to 4-6foot.
any one out LD ?
A cpl. With the sand and the swell direction it wasn't epic but a few gooduns
1:12pm Noosa Cam - two groms ride the inside together, crossing over. Then they encounter some serious backwash, and both olly it. Nice.
Lid just got shaaaaacked.
See if you can do two things at once!
Watch the cams while registering your opposition to drilling the Bight.
Ha ha...I'm spamming our own comment thread!
I went out at Noosa at first light. If the swell doubles in size Hastings street could be washed away!
Amazing day north of sc thank you Oma! Plenty of takers - like 100- but still plenty of long peeling right handers to be had. Not much work getting done up here today haha.
hi Ben, Cams still out? nothing but black including down here in torquay.?
Working now.. had a couple of interruptions today due to the enormous traffic (broken a couple of records at our end).
Hi Ben, if its not a trade secret, how much more web traffic today than a normal day 10x?
I won't reveal specifics, but I will say that it must have been eight or ten years since we last crashed our surfcam servers twice in one day. Wouldn't be surprised if it goes down again.. the general public's thirst seems to be unquenchable today.
We experience different kinds of 'peak periods' though, depending on what the main content target is. For example, when AI died we had a massive traffic rush but it was targeted at a static webpage, and the way that content is stored and retrived means the website responded differently. And we get other kinds of traffic peaks triggered by other kinds of events (for example, Kelly's first wave pool video). The timing can also affect how people access it.
Today, the appetite is mainly around the surfcams. And with this swell event greatly anticipated, and also lasting all day (i.e. not a 4-6ft morning at Shark Island that gets blown out by the sea breeze around lunchtime, and thus triggering an arvo drop in traffic), we're seeing high demand from sunrise until sunset. That puts considerable strain on our resources.
Thanks for the reply. Given the long range forecast for this swell, I cannot remember a previous swell where I have so actively followed it on the cams/buoys even though i'm a state away. Great viewing so far, I hope there are a few more waves over the next couple of days.
Just back from surfing Noosa. Checked Granite (1 guy out random washing machine) T Tree maybe 4 guys but hell sweep and fatsville. From inside T Tree to Nat Park was the go too place. Good to share with a couple of hundred punters. Awesome waves for the few. I got 2 in 2 hours. Watching Harry Bryant Fade Julian W was a highlight... Wade Goodall was shredding on some weird looking thing.....but for me...having the RED BULL ski/s out putt in away next to me in the line up was just the red nose on the circus's clowns. PHUCK OFF FFS. Cops told em to move wide via the clubbies but they still persisted doing their little sub 5knt shuttle runs and the like. Local or not I hated it....and was happy to go back to work.. Its just not surfing. No longer a JW supporter. How to Phuck your brand!
I love how the Pass gets emptier the better it gets.
Better? The bank is shithouse.
Compared to ankle high log waves? Yeah, better.
Some nice ones between the bombs!
With all the resources that the BOM has at its disposal it is a bit surprising that they let the kids doodle the 11:07am Forecast Track map for Oma.
Kirra looking patchy. Have swung the Greeny cam around.
https://www.swellnet.com/surfcams/greenmount
Any chance you could zoom the camera in and more to the groin so we can see some of the chargers running the guantlet Ben?
Ah this is looking a little better. Last one for size reference.
jeez that bank at national park is good.crowded as fuk but endless barrels
Yep and yep, and makeable barrels at that
Just got home from work keen to crack a beer and see the action..
Tried Snapper, Burleigh, Greenmount, Sunshine and Noosa cams. Noosa was the only one that worked
Just giving the machine a kick. The traffic has been relentless. Will be back in a few mins. Sorry mate.
Back now.
Great thanks Ben. Can only imagine the amount of people keen to see what’s happening at the moment
Still 1ft in Coffs :) haha
So whats the go up there skis are allowed near surfers but not swimmers? Or ok If they are helping surfers?
Running water safety/patrol.
All cams operational over on the AccessG network, despite usual traffic.
Spoiler Alert: tune into cam 3 because Gary's about to have a shower ... in baby oil
Anyone have a April 1979 Tracks mag...?
Cyclone Kerry /The Real Kirra.
Has anyone seen the latest GFS run? It has Oma heading south and having a fair crack at Sydney!!
While the Euro run shows Townsville!?!?
Yeh saw that on Windy tv ..
Gary would like to apologise for the delay in his advertised mounting of Big Groyne with his ABSS; although it’s nice of Ben to angle the cameras in readiness.
Gary was all set to go and even tried to drum up a bit of business by pitching a tent in front of a bunch of retirees when he was rudely interrupted by the local constabulary. Never fear, 24 hours and Gary will be back on the streets.
Jesus, it looks like the system is stalling again and the in-feed is getting stronger and more broad in scope, it's feeding in from well into the bloody tasman...look out, massive, longer period shiv is on the way out of the SE. Find some serious protection over the next few days crew.....FARK!
My obs.
Small at the Point early, maybe 4ft. Confirmed by later conversations.
Checked Main Beach Byron/Wreck. Pretty much end to end close-outs , looked solid 4-6ft.
Kirra looked really fun around 7-7.30am(QLD) with some 5-6ft sets.
Got back to Byron, looked really solid at the Wreck/Main beach. I watched for a halfa keen for a surf and didn't see a makeable wave.
Pass total shite.
Breaking on the bait reef and then nothing.
Beginners surfing 2ft whitewater reforms.
Drove past Lennox at 1.30, and again at 3.
Looked a raggedy 3-5ft.
Surfed it from 4-6pm.
Very raggedy and lumpy 3-5ft, very much smaller than I thought it would be. Maybe a 6ft wave.
Snapped leggy swam in.
Swell seemed to be weakening this arvo. At least down here.
"Was easy 8-10ft sets at the ox for a while around 1230-1pm. Appears to have dropped temporarily to 4-6foot."
From a post earlier...
It looked like it was building and was going to turn massive and then it did the opposite.
Dropped right off.
Well banks remain shite.
Hopefully we'll get a reset, because no banks are better than shite banks.
How big was Noosa?....truth now, no fibbing.
Easy 8ft+ sets on the Tweed right now though very inconsistent. Very reliable source reckons easy 10ft at times through the day.
WOW, what a day in SE QLD hey! looks like everyone is frothing and enjoying the mid period Easterly cyclonic swells that have finally broken the wave drought, it's been on the pump today but this is a precursor to a larger and far more powerful SE ground swell that's being produced by the cyclonic in-feed......My thoughts are this is just a precursor to a larger and longer period SE swell that'll smash in over the next few days. What are your thoughts Ben?
Wave drought? I reckon we’ve only had one week under 3 ft since Xmas on the GC. Winds have been questionable but still surfable waves every day.
What are my thoughts? They’re in the article above.
Ok......... I expected more open dialogue considering the constant updates from yourself and the SN team? Anyway, this system is soooooooo dynamic, I thought you'd convey your latest thoughts on the developments, its now's late Thursday and the system has changed and is not not expected to cross the coast. It has changed a lot in the last 24hrs, there's a massive long range SE fetch forming but hey, lets wait for Friday's hey.
Cheers.
Kinda hard for me to throw in a quick comment here and there when I’m the primary forecaster.. anything I say will be taken more seriously than an off-the-cuff statement from an anonymous punter. Which means I have to do more research than a quick glance at the charts. And having just worked a 14 hour day without managing any water time, I think I’ll leave it until tomorrow morning, when the circus will start all over again.
All good matey, I'm just frothing from afar, it's all been very exciting. Do yourself a favour and go get some of the juice that you've actually been forecasting, as you know, this sort of thing doesn't come around too often. You SN guys are the best, we're all glued to the developments.
Thanks fella :)
In between kicking the server and swearing a constant blue streak because it was never designed to handle this much froth in a 48-hour period.
If it was me Ben, I'd throw my hands in the air, grab my 6'3" and storm out the door with a quick "You cunts are on your own!".
Keep up the good work mate, it's why they're paying you the big bucks!
You have a dig this arvo Craig ?
Looks like he scored today
Just had a squizz until dark.
definitely smaller and weaker.
15 knot or so of S to SSE wind and about 3 or 4 ft.
Spoke to a bloke who surfed it 3 times today; the peak was definitely just around lunch-time which might account for LostDoggy's obs.
Been an easing trend all afternoon.
Byron buoy data is a bit inconclusive due to wind contamination but HSig and period data is nothing amazing and fits the obs.
Just got in. Took an hour to snag one at Snapper but fark it was good. Just in line with Little Marley all the way to mid Coolangatta Bay. Just a bit high tide not to barrel through the far inside. Stoked! Had fun ones this morning but the wave this evening was a lot better. Oh also late dropped a bumpy foamy double up and got bounced off drop to then be dragged a long time under water. Especially coming off a chest infection. Had to climb the leggy a little for that one with limited lung capacity but otherwise fun as waves!
How big up there on dark Craig?
I’d say 3-5 with 6ft bombs. Some of the big sets on low around 8ft hitting Big Groyne.. you’ll see tomorrow as I got some photos.
so dropping off this arvo after the low tide?
Possibly a touch.
From the bits I saw on the Noosa cam today I don't think I've ever seen it so consistent. It looked relentless...wave after wave after wave.
Seemed like it wouldn't have been too hard to get a few? Thoughts from those who surfed it?
Mates I know who live there are calling as good as it gets. Hard to disagree with the surfcam vision (all there to see on the replays).
30 years of surfing Noosa, I would almost agree, though Nationals earlier in the week at 4ft was breaking the best I have ever seen it on half tide ie before the low tide crowd turned up, suckers.The sweep will ruin it except for the f wits using the jet skis today.
It was crazy consistent, like sets every 2-3mins. Amazing to watch. Especially that replay at about 5:30am at about 2:30 mark where some guy gets a 10 sec barrel, think that was you CRG that mentioned that originally? Amazing
Surfed the twin islands today ... the low tide and wind definitely took the gloss off it this afternoon. Got a couple of fun ones and beats having to deal with the national park circus.
Looked a bit straight there from what I saw? Wrong direction? Wrong sand?
AW looked bigger this morning than this afternoon.
Seemed a touch smaller around here on dark too, maybe just messier.
Yeah I don't think the sand is anything like what it was 4-5 years ago, definitely swell getting in
Noosa was definitely worth the surf, regardless what people say of the crowd there were plenty of waves to go around, and there didn't seem to be any downard trend of the size dropping off through the afternoon, stoked.
After watching those 2 videos it certainly looks like it! A mate sent me some of Kai Hing's raw clips ... he got some absolute crackers!!
You had to be patient.
Had 4 surfs here in last 24 hrs, all mega crowded.
Tonight Boiling Pot was perfect, world class....but ridiculously crowded.
Frustrating but got a few for the day.
Derek Hynd got some good ones
You had to be patient.
Had 4 surfs here in last 24 hrs, all mega crowded.
Tonight Boiling Pot was perfect, world class....but ridiculously crowded.
Frustrating but got a few for the day.
Derek Hynd got some crackers
The bar’s already been set pretty high. Gonna be interesting to see what happens over the weekend once the ENE swell eases and is overtaken by a much bigger SSE swell.
I did no work at all today. What a day of jealous viewing. Swellnet Subscription paid for itself in one day.
Agreed. I wonder If Ben prioritised us subscribers with the camera stream, as i heard some people were having trouble, I did not :-) The multicam was literally on one screen all day in the office!
&ut=
Just in case you haven't seen these.
JTWC update ... Hmmm.
Oma really sprays solid swell north to the southwest facing islands and reef passes of PNG, Solomons, etc. Wonder how many perfect empty spots will fire...
gales are in Byron buoy is going ballistic.
Looks like we have some consensus on the future track.
After being very stubborn over the last few days, GFS is now keeping TC Oma in the Coral Sea with no southward track.
Winds obs around the region:
Double Island Point gusting 50kts S/SE around 1:45am.
Sunshine Coast Airport gusting 29kts S'ly around 4:30am.
Banana Bank gusting 33kts S'ly around 3am.
Gold Coast Seaway gusting 35kts S'ly around 1am.
Coolangatta gusting 32kts S'ly at 12:30am.
Cape Byron gusting 47kts S'ly at 6am.
Evans Head gusting 40kts SE at 4:30am.
Yamba gusting 35kts S/SE at 6am (plus 48mm recorded in just a couple of hours yesty evening!)
Coffs Harbour Airport gusting 33kts S/SE at 5am.
Woke me up around 3am or just before. Started all of a sudden.
Noosa cranking still.
Again, we're likely to see conditions change quite a bit throughout the day.
To quote a mate, about yesterday's surf: "At dawn it was four foot. By the time I had breakfast and got back to the beach, it was eight to ten".
Tropical Cyclones (and other similarly intense storms) positioned close to the mainland can really bring about rapid changes in surf size (mainly up, sometimes down) over short time scales. None of which we have any way of having a heads up on, either.
Another long day ahead!
"Tropical Cyclones (and other similarly intense storms) positioned close to the mainland can really bring about rapid changes in surf size (mainly up, sometimes down) over short time scales"
20 minutes for example:
https://imgur.com/a/HCAG29b
https://imgur.com/a/8qOzxJk
Pic 1: I got this
Pic 2: dafuq
Ahrrr mate, you might wanna take a lie down.....looks like it's gonna be a giant natural wave generating conveyor belt for some time yet, supported by a Tasman high and later, dare I say it another cyclone waaay offshore......far out!
Surfed the point at straddy yesterday. 4ft at 8am up to a solid 6ft by midday and back down to 4ft in the afternoon. Heavy crew of rippers tb mikey wright and a few goldy locals were over there for the keg fest. 1ski in sight was a good day for waves. Cancelled all the barge services at 6pm last night. So people are stuck on straddy for the next few days.
"Cancelled all the barge services at 6pm last night. So people are stuck on straddy for the next few days."
I think you mean people are stuck on the mainland.
Wow what a legend mbl88 ,
Do you feel better now you shared your accomplishments.
Yeh I forgot straddie was a secret spot. Sorry mate. Guess it's going to get blown out now.
Couldn't have said it any fcking better myself. Mbl88 you're a fcking loser.
Some big windy lines pushing through The Alley, though hard to get a grip on size (morning glare ain't helping). Looks close to 8ft I reckon.
Still very doable on cooly stretch this early this morning. Screamers at Kirra
E/NE swell has dropped really quickly (looks like yesterday was the peak - Noosa is half the size!), but across the Tweed Coast the new S/SE swell is really big, sets pushing 8-10ft though conditions are Victory-At-Sea (only hung around for a couple of minutes, so don't know if these waves are representative of the average size, if it was just a rogue set I lucked into, or whether there are bigger bombs than this).
Size will be impossible to estimate unless you frequent this place, but it doesn't break this far out very often (first photo), let alone on a big high tide.
Also, the amount of sweep up the coast is phenomenal, gotta be 15kts+ along the headlands.
Geez,glad I didn't do a out of the way mission, swell isn't pulsing like I thought, Noosa is hands down breaking the best ever,30 + years! Going to drop in on JW every wave, jet skis at the pot, Figg that!!
Max wave heights at the Tweed buoy now 11.5m, higher than Brisbane (!) which is just nudging 10m and Byron Bay, which reached 9.5m a short time ago (though there's a lotta windswell loading in there)
'Should've been here yesterday...Like I was slotted between Joel & Mick.'
Beachgoerz choppered out to well worn High Mountain Pass.
GCCC [Beach Closed Signs] Are once again keeping big waves out to sea.
Public Nuisance bodybasherz-WSR Fees: 1 penalty unit per each toe dipped.
WSR/Bunnings Workshop [NO admittance]...Huey accepts all WSL Cards
WSR Towies refuse to get outta bed for less than 3 WSL Pros a day.
You won't catch 'Jim's Drones' dive bombing outside of peak-hour lineups.
TC Oma armada wipes out Surf City ~~^()-=>*~~~/\()*~~~/(C``!////~#? ___~*()
How’s Kirra today??
High tide with jet skis everywhere, looks like 3foot circus,
Just looked at Kirra Surf cam. What a farce, on so many levels. 4 or 5 jet skis playing in close outs. MP would be rolling in his grave. The sand pumping has FUCKED THE GATTA. And Jets skis should be BANNED in surf under 10 foot.
Man I was just watching also - playing in 4ft close outs, what a farce
Badski behaviour 6.18 pm yesterday on the cam rewind
christ knows what speed they were going and def in breach of rules
Not sure about now but Kirra was pretty epic this morning coming off the low. The skis either carried photographers or were helping pros back up the point (plenty were paddling though). All fairly reasonable I thought. Didn't see any tow-ins or step-offs or anything like that. When we're frothing on the footage later I expect it won't seem so bad
Gotta be banned under 10 foot, something has to be done one way or another.
Paddled out at Snapper, turned to Victory at Sea pretty quickly.. yesterday was the day!
Pulled into some good ones at Noosa shore break yesterday, but wasn't very exciting today got invaded by over hyped groms too. Prefer open beachies.
Before I paddled out..
Craig you were one of those little black dots? Haha well done!
I was looking through the cam and saw that if a set didn't come through most guys made the green water by about Little Marley, not bad. But if a set came through...
Looks bigger on ground level too!
I was 20mins after taking this shot. Actually looks worse than was as all the energy was absorbed out the back and you were just duckdiving white wash. Looked bloody hectic but!
Had a stroll through the national park this morning to the booming sound of the ocean and the wild wind not a soul around in that part of the park anyway - awesome in itself.
The sand that was once on Noosa Main Beach looks like its been deposited in A-Bay; big tides right upto the fence line.
Walking around from Hells Gate along the Wall the swell is much more organised of course and quite "setty". You can mind surf huge walls here.
Turn the corner into Granite and the angle is not quite right - breaking real wide; tide was about mid and with the "offshore" gale would be hard to make and probably little reward - better days there.
To get to the top of T Tree the access is Granite and the sweep will take you down there and you can join the crowd or get swept around to Boiling Pot a few minutes later and join that crowd - or ask for a lift from a friendly Ski driver perhaps.
All time - maybe; it was certainly good at the Pot yesterday but there have been some really good days this year with much fewer crowds and no machinery.
Beautiful to watch and I'm happy to be one that took a little and left so much this time.
Have fun !
Enos ,pot through to nationals, I was referring to. Jumped out at granite shorey and had pick of any given set wave,if timed right,at tea tree, stoked!
There's no place in the lineup for ski's in QLD. Imagine if everyone could afford one. Would it be poo poo'd then because what was once the reach of a select few its now all and sundry. Its greed gone mad. As if its not crowded enough but lets put them in the line up too. FFS. One stalls, goes over the falls. Its Nias this time with victims who cant get out of the way.
The pot yesty sorted the gonnas from the doers. And there were plenty of crew having a good crack. Why some of the pros needed skis is beyond me. Just spoilt brat syndrome. Theyre great surfers no doubt but if I rocked up to Royal Melbourne GC on my Dirt Bike would that be ok? If your listening RED BULL phuck off. And its not tall Poppy....kudos where its due...but ski's in the public line up of a National park where 300 other blokes didnt need the assistance is just crap.
They breed them soft up north. Must be all the sunshine and warm water
Kirra!
I’m still eyeing the weekends peak for Kirra. Should benefit from the direction change, it just depends on those winds (not to mention the size) The 6’9 is already finless and board bagged ready to pounce
Nutter, be maxing, yew!
Looks about 8ft on the sets on the cams and already off the shallow part of the bank. I am wondering if it will begin to wash through the groyne/butterbox section by tomorrow and render it not worth the effort vs reward
Yeah I'd agree, lots of hard work and probably breaking out too far/wide.
I think you will be right...
Mooloolaba buoy showing the swell really kicking now!
https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/coasts-waterways/beach/monitoring/wav...
Max wave height hit 13 Metres!
Surfed Kirra 5-7am got a couple of okay ones before taking a wipeout a bit further down the bank, was solid 8ft + set. the ones in between sets were only 3-4ft....note to self take the 6'8 rather than the 6'2 tomorrow
Just watched Kirra cam for a few minutes. Going bananas out there ATM. Guys getting shacked off their gourds!
What a hell of a test for the Narrowneck Sand slugs this system is .
Go home Oma, you're drunk.
Yeah right..
Can't even comprehend that.
How good was that !
Faaark
Cheers craig!
Basherz salute the no claim bonus from the both of ya!
Still firing out there on sundown. Holy shit.
With much much more to come....Forecast notes are up.