South Australian Forecast (issued Fri 25th Apr)

South Australian Forecast (issued Friday 25th April)

Best Days: Sunday, Monday and early Tuesday down South, Wednesday for keen surfers on the Mid and protected locations down South, Thursday down South

Recap

The Mid Coast offered the best waves yesterday with a peaky SW swell whipped up by Wednesday evening's change to 1-2ft, improving during the day as winds swung S/SE. The South Coast was poor with fresh onshore winds and a building swell.

While a peak in strong SW groundswell was seen overnight, this morning revealed great waves down South to 4ft at Middleton with much larger sets at Waits under N/NE winds. These winds are freshening, cleaning up the surf further and we should see excellent conditions through the afternoon as winds swing more N/NW and the swell slowly backs off.

The Mid Coast was clean but tiny with 1-1.5ft waves across the beaches and reefs for keen surfers.

This weekend (Apr 26 - 27)

Unless your down the South Coast early tomorrow to make the most of a dawn W/NW offshore, give the surf a miss, as a strong S/SW change will move through before 9am, writing off the surf for the rest of the day.

The Mid Coast should see similar waves to yesterday with a peaky 1-1.5ft of SW swell with improving S/SE winds into the afternoon, so keep an eye on the South Port cam for any decent conditions.

With tomorrow's change, another strong pulse of S/SW swell is due, similar to today's with Sunday morning expected to see easing 4ft waves at Middleton and larger 5ft sets at Waits. Winds won't be as favourable as today but still good for Goolwa and protected locations with a fresh E/NE'ly (that will likely tend NE during the morning).

Next week onwards (Apr 28 onwards)

Monday is looking excellent with all day fresh N/NE winds and an easing swell from 2-3ft at Middleton and 3-4ft+ at Waits. The Mid coast will be tiny but ideal for beginners.

Into Tuesday a long-range and very inconsistent but strong W/SW groundswell is due to fill in. This swell is being generated by a vigorous polar low in the Southern Indian Ocean which is tracking east towards WA while generating a fetch of severe-gale to storm-force (at its core) W/SW winds (pictured right). This low will unfortunately break down south-west of WA resulting in a lot of swell decay and loss in consistency.

The fore-runners of the swell should arrive overnight Monday with the bulk filling in Tuesday afternoon and peaking to an inconsistent 2ft across the Mid Coast, with 2-3ft+ sets at Middleton and 3-5ft surf developing at Waits late in the day. Winds will be favourable for the South Coast early before the swell really kicks with a strong N/NW wind, but a W'ly change will deteriorate conditions across both coasts.

The W/SW groundswell is expected to ease Wednesday, but this won't be noticeable across the coast as a bigger W/SW swell fills in linked to a strong mid-latitude front pushing through the Bight Tuesday.

This should kick up 2-3ft waves on the Mid for Wednesday but with onshore W/SW winds, while the South Coast should see an early W/NW'ly creating great conditions at Middleton and around Victor ahead of a shift to the W/SW.

Longer term a couple of strong S/SW groundswell pulses are still on the cards for Friday and next weekend, but we'll have another look at this on Monday. Have a great weekend!