South-east Queensland and Northern NSW Surf Forecast by James Casey (issued Wednesday 31st March)

Best Days: S swell peaking on Thursday (tomorrow) but with strong S winds. Better winds the Easter long weekend. Large swell Sunday/Monday but strong winds into next week.

Outlook:

• S winds and mid period S swell combine meaning small waves in southern corners into the start of the Easter long weekend
• Low in Coral Sea to create E swell for the weekend creating more interesting conditions
• E swell to peak on Sunday/Monday and linger into the new week

Recap

Winds have been stronger from the S for the last two days, lighter and more SW in the morning and stronger and more SE in the afternoon. 

Waves have been steadily building for N NSW and the Mid N Coast with 3-4ft waves today, more like 2ft for SE QLD.

Into the weekend

The S/SE swell that filled in yesterday and today will peak tomorrow reaching the 4ft mark on Thursday. I wouldn’t expect too much more for SE QLD but N NSW and the Mid N Coast will see at least the same amount of energy. It will ease a bit on Easter Friday before a new E swell begins to build in on Saturday that’ll be felt across the entire forecast region.

This E swell will be generated by a tropical low in the Coral Sea squeezing the ridge of high pressure over the coast. All locations will see a bump in swell size from this event but SE QLD, in particular the Sunshine Coast, should see the most size, up over the 6-8ft mark at it’s peak on Sunday afternoon. The peak will be a bit later and smaller for N NSW, more like Monday morning up around the 6ft+ mark, and later and smaller again for the Mid N Coast around the 4-6ft mark. 

For most of the week winds will be out of the E/SE meaning you will have to stick to southern corners to get less bumpy conditions. Mornings will be better but I’d expect it to be lumpy regardless as the winds set in. 

The new week

The low will shift S and intensify from Monday, potentially becoming a Tasman Low.  S it shifts S winds will strengthen out of the SE and then S before shifting offshore as it moves south of your region. For SE QLD and N NSW it looks to be around Wednesday while for the Mid N Coast it looks to be around Thursday. 

The swell will linger for a few days after the Sunday/Monday peak with a chance of it peaking agin later in the week. There are few variables and as is always the case with low pressure systems, there is plenty that can change. 

There’ll be an additional swell added to the mix on Tuesday as a long period groundswell adds an extra element to the waves. I wouldn’t expect it to be easily noticed compared to the stronger E swell in the water. It will just be an addition. 

It's looking very interesting later in the week so let’s keep an eye on that low that is set to shift S. We’ll provide an update on Friday.