South-east Queensland and Northern NSW Surf Forecast by James Casey (issued Monday 22nd February)

Best Days: Thursday with 2-3ft E swell, best early with light variable winds. Tuesday, Wednesday as the low provides one last S pulse, winds not great but most swell for the week up around that 3-4ft mark for S swell magnets.

Recap: Well how about that for a weekend (long weekend, I hope you got out this morning as well) of waves. Some good conditions across the board. Solid 4-6ft waves out of the E meaning just about everywhere scored at some point. 

Outlook:

• S/SE pulse of energy from low to fill in Tuesday/Wednesday. Winds not great but make the most of it as there won’t be much swell around later in the week. 
• Little swell on Thursday from E trade swell setup, light winds early and hitting widespread 2-3ft.
• Weak trade setup easing and just small waves, 1-2ft, into the weekend.
• Long Range we have the chance of an inconsistent 3-4ft E swell from a distance tropical low, biggest for Sunshine Coast.

Start of the Week

Well I hope you are surfed out because the waves that we’ve had are not looking like occurring again anytime soon. 

Tomorrow will see a lot of the size dissipated with just 2-3ft of that E swell remaining. It’ll be worth getting out there with light variable winds early for most places. The Mid N Coast will be windier with S winds which will fill in as SE winds across the entire region as the day goes on. Not all that pleasant. 

There will be one final pulse of energy from that fast moving low though. This time from the S/SE, originating from the SW flank of the low. This energy will fill in along the Mid N Coast around the middle of the day, the afternoon for N NSW and early on Wednesday for SE QLD. It'll peak a bit over the head high mark, 3-4ft, but won't last all that long, just a quick spike and then beginning to ease. Nothing like last weeks continual 4-5ft with multiple pulses. 

On top of the quick up and down trend of the swell, it’ll also be accompanied by E/SE winds. The Gold Coast is probably looking to have the pick of the winds, staying light and variable early before the E/SE winds fill in preventing any decent conditions for locations that are picking up the S/SE swell. 

As is always the case with swells out of the S/SE for SE QLD, don’t expect a lot of size. Just expect local S swell magnets to see any of it with the points to remain small for this part of the week.

For N NSW and the Mid N Coast it’ll be better but E/SE winds will mean you’ll either have to put up with the wind at a S swell magnet or find protection from both the wind and swell in a southern corner. Not great but it's all we have to work with at this stage. 

The Back End of the Week

This S/SE pulse of energy will be gone by Thursday. In the wake of the low moving south and east, a ridge of high pressure setup out to sea, setting up a weak E trade swell setup. This will filter in a 2-3ft swell across the board for Thursday. 

With light variable winds early it’s shaping up to be one of the better days of the week. Later in the day winds will pick up out of the NE for NSW and SE for SE QLD. The E swell will begin to ease a fraction too so the morning is definitely the pick, don't wait around for more of it to show up. 

This E swell will ease to 1-2ft and continue into the weekend with not too much else to get excited about. As is normally the case, winds will be lighter earlier and swinging more onshore as the day goes on.

Next Week

Now this is long range and it involves a distant tropical low so take it on but don’t put too much weight on it. There are indications of a tropical low intensifying to the E of New Zealand which could direct an inconsistent E/SE swell. 

At this stage it’d be a slow 3-4ft at most and best for the Sunshine Coast because of the way New Zealand is blocking a lot of the energy. Something to keep in mind in an otherwise quiet looking outlook.