South Australian Surf Forecast (Fri 3rd Jan)

South Australian Forecast (issued Friday 3rd January)

Best Days: Saturday and Sunday mornings in protected spots, Monday on the Mid

Recap

The surf was small and average across the South Coast yesterday with an onshore wind while the Mid saw clean 0.5-1ft waves all day.

A new SW swell has filled in today offering bigger 2-3ft waves down at Middleton with larger 3-4ft sets at Waits but conditions were less than perfect with a light onshore breeze. Winds should swing more W/SW during the day as the swell eases. The Mid Coast is tiny and onshore.

This weekend (Jan 4 – 5)

A stronger SW groundswell is expected across the coast tomorrow ahead of a good W/SW tending S/SW groundswell Sunday and Monday.

These swells will be generated by two intense mid-latitude lows pushing through our swell window today and through the weekend (pictured right).

The largest increase is expected Sunday afternoon but conditions will become poor as the system pushes across us bringing strong W/SW winds. Each morning on the South Coast should offer good clean waves in protected locations with a stiff W/NW'ly.

The Mid Coast should see messy 1-2ft waves tomorrow before increasing to a stormy 2ft+ during Sunday afternoon.

Next week (Jan 6 onwards)

A drop in size is expected through next week across the state as the swell swings more S/SW in direction owing to a fetch of S/SW gales on the backside of Sunday's low.

Winds will be poor for the South Coast Monday though with a S/SW tending S/SE breeze while the Mid Coast should see clean fun waves easing from 2ft. E/SE winds are expected into Tuesday and Wednesday as the swell continues to back off (ignore Tuesday's S/SW pulse as it's combining two separate swell and over representing the size for the South Coast).

Longer term it looks like we'll fall into a typical summer pattern with small to moderate amounts of W-SW groundswell and S/SE winds. We'll look at this again on Monday though.