Southern Tasmania Surf Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Monday 18th December)

Best Days: Thursday, Friday, Saturday morning, Sunday morning

Recap

Small to tiny and inconsistent surf in the 1ft to occasionally 2ft range Saturday through Sunday, dropping back to 1-1.5ft this morning under an offshore breeze.

Today’s Forecaster Notes are brought to you by Rip Curl

This weekend and next week (Dec 19 - 24)

The swell is expected to be tiny to flat tomorrow and with poor N/NE-NE winds ahead of a late NW change.

This change will be related to a deepening low to our west, the result of a strong low off the WA coast, dipping south-east into the Bight while interacting with a moisture laden surface trough and re-intensifying.

We'll see a fetch of severe-gale W/SW winds aimed through our swell window as the low continues to dip south-east, generating a moderate sized W/SW groundswell for Thursday morning.

Through Wednesday building levels of W/SW windswell are due, reaching 2ft+ later in the day though with strong W'ly winds.

Thursday morning should reveal easing 2-3ft surf and clean conditions most of the day with a NW tending W/NW breeze.

Into Friday a secondary polar low should generate a good reinforcing SW groundswell, with this system forming south-southwest of WA tomorrow evening. A good fetch of gale to severe-gale W/SW winds will be projected towards us, generating a good long-period SW groundswell pulse for later Friday afternoon.

Clifton should kick to 3ft with a NW tending variable breeze (hopefully not sea breezey) creating good conditions.

Saturday morning is guaranteed to be clean, though the swell will be easing back from 2ft to possibly 3ft.

Another weak polar front looks to generate some good reinforcing W/SW swell for Sunday/Monday but only to 1-2ft at this stage. We'll have another look at this Wednesday.