Northern NSW and South East Queensland Surf Forecast (Fri 24th Jan)

Northern NSW and South East Queensland Forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Friday 14th January)

Best Days: Protected locations over the coming period

Recap

The E/SE swell was all but gone across SE Qld coast yesterday, with the Sunny Coast performing the best with 2ft sets, while a junky S/SE swell was seen across the North Coast with poor winds.

A late increase in S'ly groundswell was seen across the Mid North Coast and selected locations on the North Coast, but this has peaked this morning with solid but inconsistent sets at south facing beaches with a variable breeze.

This weekend (Jan 25 -26)

Tomorrow will start out slow with an easing and small S'ly groundswell from today, but a late increase in S/SE windswell is expected ahead of a much stronger and larger pulse Sunday.

This S/SE swell will be generated by a deepening surface trough moving offshore the Southern NSW coast this evening, projecting a fetch of S/SW gales up the coast (pictured right). A peak in size to a stormy 5-6ft across south facing beaches on Sunday morning across the North Coast, with much smaller waves in protected locations and 3ft sets on the Goldy beaches.

Winds will unfortunately be average for the spots picking up the most size with S/SW tending S/SE winds.

Next week onwards (Jan 27 onwards)

The surface trough responsible for Sunday morning's swell will move off fairly quickly to the east and this will result in a steady drop in size through Monday and further Tuesday. Unfortunately winds will linger onshore across the upper North Coast and Goldy.

As the S/SE swell eases early next week, moderate levels of trade-swell are expected to fill in across open beaches and reach the moderate to large size through Wednesday and Thursday.

This will be related to a broad and strong easterly ridge forming in the Coral and Northern Tasman Seas during next week as a weak tropical low and possibly cyclone squeezes the ridge from the north (pictured right).

Winds will persist from the SE for the most part, becoming lighter and more variable the further south down the North Coast you head, leaving protected bays and points with the best waves.

The longer term remains more than active with medium to large levels of E'ly swell expected to persist well into the following week, providing over 2 weeks of sustained and much needed swell. Check back here on Monday for a much more detailed look at this exciting period ahead.