Thursday Surfrider Gardens
Hello Friends,
First time this year that conditions were interesting enough for me to do a little shooting. The wind was coming up and it was challenging for the hardy crew amongst it. Sets were solidly overhead, but as is usually the case at south Narrabeen, you had to be careful with wave selection as most of them were unmakeable. I shot for less than an hour because people kept coming in and I ran out of subjects. There was a bigger crew at North Narrabeen, but while big, wave quality was not that exceptional. Swell at sea was 3 metres at 13 seconds from the ENE when I was shooting, so there’s heaps of energy in the system even though it wasn’t quite coming together enough to call it all-time. And you had to pick your spots as places such as the Dee Why to Longy stretch were maxed out and unapproachable.
I’m keen to see what the Goat has to say about the coming week, so I’ll be checking back to read his wisdom later. My quick take is that we could be looking at crazy big on Saturday and then more mellow but fun prospects as we head into the new week.
Go well – and know your limits!
Weather Situation
A weak ridge directs northerly winds over southern coastal waters, while a low pressure system in the Tasman Sea, brings fresh southeasterly winds along the north coast, before tracking into the southern Tasman Sea later in the week. A strong cold front is forecast to sweep the coastal waters from today through to Friday, with fresh to strong southwesterly winds in its wake. The southerly airstream will increase further to gale-force, and large, powerful waves will develop as a low forms off the south coast and brushes the southern and central parts of the coast between Friday and early Saturday, before the system heads into the Tasman Sea through the weekend.
Forecast for Thursday until midnight
- Winds
- North to northwesterly 10 to 15 knots tending west to northwesterly in the late evening. Winds reaching up to 20 knots offshore in the late evening.
- Seas
- Below 1 metre.
- Swell
- Easterly 2.5 metres.
- Weather
- Becoming cloudy. 95% chance of showers. A thunderstorm likely during this afternoon and evening.
- Caution
- Large and powerful surf conditions are expected to be hazardous for coastal activities such as crossing bars by boat and rock fishing.
Friday 27 March
Gale Warning for Friday for Sydney Coast
- Winds
- West to southwesterly 15 to 25 knots becoming westerly 20 to 30 knots in the morning then tending southwesterly 25 to 30 knots in the evening. Winds reaching up to 45 knots during the afternoon and evening.
- Seas
- Below 1 metre, increasing to 1.5 to 2.5 metres during the morning, then increasing to 2.5 to 4 metres around midday.
- 1st Swell
- South to southwesterly 1 to 2 metres, increasing to 4 to 7 metres during the afternoon.
- 2nd Swell
- Easterly 1.5 to 2.5 metres, decreasing to 1 to 1.5 metres around midday.
- Weather
- Cloudy. Near 100% chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm in the morning and afternoon.
- Caution
- Large and powerful surf conditions are expected to be hazardous for coastal activities such as crossing bars by boat and rock fishing.
Saturday 28 March
- Winds
- Southwesterly 30 to 45 knots.
- Seas
- 3 to 5 metres, decreasing to 2.5 to 3 metres during the afternoon or evening.
- Swell
- Southerly 7 to 8 metres, decreasing to 4 to 6 metres during the morning.
- Weather
- Partly cloudy. 80% chance of showers.
- Caution
- Large and powerful surf conditions are expected to be hazardous for coastal activities such as crossing bars by boat and rock fishing.