Southern Tasmania Surf Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Monday 22nd May)

Best Days: Early Tuesday, later Friday, Saturday morning

Recap

Better waves away from Clifton Saturday with easing surf from 2ft under a fresh E/NE breeze.

Sunday morning started slow, but a strong new S/SW groundswell built through the day and variable winds into the afternoon provided good conditions into the evening.

This morning the S/SE groundswell was easing from 3ft, bigger at more exposed breaks with favourable winds all day again.

This week and weekend (May 23 – 28)

The current S/SE groundswell even was created by a very strong polar outbreak south of New Zealand, with a new wave buoy situated in the Southern Ocean picking up a Maximum Wave Height of 19.4m.

This swell peaked yesterday evening and will continue to ease overnight, with leftover 1-2ft sets tomorrow morning. Conditions look great all day with offshore N/NW tending variable winds.

As touched on in Friday's updated, the storm track will stay too far north to generate any decent swell for us at all most of this week.

Into the end of the week though we'll see a weakening low/front moving under us, generating a small kick in mid-period W/SW swell through Friday.

Building sets to 1-2ft are due through the day, but also in the mix later in the day and Saturday morning will be a very inconsistent long-period W/SW groundswell.

This swell is being generated by the initial stages of the low, north-east of Heard Island with a fetch of storm-force W'ly winds being generated in our far western swell window. The low will track east and more into our swell window over the coming days while weakening.

The swell will be very west, but should kick to 2ft later in the day, easing back from 2ft Saturday morning.

Conditions look good all of Friday with a W/NW breeze, while Saturday will see N/NW winds all day.

Behind this swell another similar low will generate another long-period WSW groundswell, but this system will be a touch too far north, with the swell being too west to get in Sunday afternoon. Only 1ft+ waves are expected.

Longer term there's nothing major due, so try and plan around the small swells due over this period.