Sydney Hunter Illawarra Surf Forecast by James Casey (issued Wednesday 24th March)

Best Days: Thursday (tomorrow) is the day so get out there before the swell eases too much. 

Outlook:

• Thursday, tomorrow morning especially, your best window
• Friday a S winds and swell easing swinging more E
• Smaller conditions for the Saturday ahead of a weak S change for Sunday  
• Small S swell to start the new week but with S winds persisting

Recap

Well yesterday was mostly a mess with plenty of debris in the water for those that braved it. Northern corners had decent waves for most the day as winds swung round to the NE and eased later in the day. Once the rain stopped in the afternoon there were pockets of offshore winds.

Today was a glamour day, still plenty of debris in the water and a bit straight early but the sun was out and winds were offshore all day. If you have a bank at your local you would’ve scored but it was a solid 4-6ft E/NE swell. It has eased a little this afternoon, more like 4ft, but NE swell magnets will still be fun. 

The end of the week

Well I bet you won’t take that sun for granted anymore. After about five days of grey skies and washing machine conditions how long are these offshores, blue skies and 4-6ft waves going to hang around for?

Well yesterday when that trough and low moved south and offshore it brought us westerly winds and took all the grey and rainy stuff south and out to sea. A weak region of high pressure will build and give us clearer skies and lighter winds for the next few days.

Thursday will see another beautiful day with offshore winds and the E/NE swell easing to a more manageable 3ft, smaller in the afternoon. There could be a little NE seabreeze from the early afternoon but for the most part conditions will be nice. 

A SW change will arrive overnight creating bumpier conditions for Friday. Winds will be SW and fresh early but swing around to the SE and ease into the evening. Southern corners will be your best bet on Friday and with the last of that E/NE swell hanging around there should be some nice but slow 2ft options, best early.

By Saturday the swell will have eased a bit further and gone more E. There’ll still be waves around but it’ll be small, let’s call it 1-2ft. Winds will be light and offshore under the weak region of high pressure before an afternoon NE seabreeze builds ahead of another little S change for Sunday. 

A weak trough will move through on Sunday bringing a weak S change. It’ll be SW early before swinging S around midday and SE later into the afternoon. There’ll be less swell as just the leftovers of that lingering E swell provides some small 1-2ft waves. 

The new week

The E swell will finally subside with just some short period S swell to go with the S winds for Monday morning. As the trough moves up the coast a ridge of high pressure will build over the southeast of the nation. This means weak S winds will continue for a few days, more SW in the morning and more SE in the afternoon. 

Swell wise there’ll be a small S wind swell to start the week. It will be about 2ft on Monday and lingering around that height into Tuesday. Wednesday could see a little mid period pulse but it really isn’t much to worry about, maybe up to 3ft. 

Mornings will be best with SW winds but it is a bit ho hum.

Let’s keep an eye on it but at the moment not too much to get excited about further ahead. Tune in on Friday for hopefully some better news.