Northern NSW and South East Queensland Surf Forecast (Fri 17th Jan)

Northern NSW and South East Queensland Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Friday 17th January)

Best Days: Every morning over the coming period

Recap

The E'ly trade-swell muscled up into yesterday coming in at 2-3ft across the Goldy and upper North Coast under light variable winds during the morning (besides the Sunny Coast which saw persistent E/SE winds).

Today the swell is continuing at a similar size with onshore winds in SE Qld and lighter offshores across Northern NSW.

This weekend onwards (Jan 18 onwards)

Moderate amounts of E'ly trade-swell will continue into the weekend across both regions but as we move into Sunday a stronger pulse of E/NE groundswell is expected to arrive ahead of a peak on Monday.

This will be related to a tropical cyclone, that looks to be now named June, drifting south from a position between Vanuatu and New Caledonia into the trade-flow during this evening and tomorrow.

A fetch of E/SE gales will be aimed towards the East Coast during the weekend (pictured right), generating a medium to large pulse of E/NE tending E'ly groundswell that should build strongly later Sunday across most regions and peak overnight/early Monday.

Winds on Sunday afternoon will be moderate to fresh from the SE, but Monday should see early S/SW winds on the Goldy creating excellent waves, with SW winds further down the North Coast.

Due to the quick movement of TC June on an unfavourable south-southeast track through our swell window and then across New Zealand, the swell will only last 24-28 hours and dip away quickly into Tuesday, with much smaller surf due on Wednesday.

Longer term, the further tropical developments hinted at the last few updates are on track, but we'll continue to keep a close eye on these.