Surf Forecast - South Australia

South Central Coast SA

Mid Coast SA

Forecast issued 10.30am Thursday, 23 May 2013 By Ben Macartney.

Short Forecast
Friday
SW groundswell 2 - 3ft across the South Coast, building into the afternoon. Around 1ft across the Mid Coast. WIND: WSW 5 to 15 knots tending lighter during the afternoon.

Saturday
Long period SW groundswell 5 – 6ft across the South Coast, grading to 1 – 3ft across the Mid Coast. WIND: WSW 5 to 15 knots.

Sunday
Long period SW groundswell 5 – 6ft across the South Coast. Grading to 1 – 2ft across the Mid Coast. WIND: Early light SSW tending SSE during the day.

Monday
SW groundswell 3 - 5ft South Coast. Up to 1 - 2ft max across the Mid Coast. WIND: NE 5 to 10 knots tending N during the afternoon.

Tuesday
SW groundswell 2 – 3ft+ across the South Coast, easing marginally during the afternoon. Grading to 1 to 2ft across the Mid Coast. WIND: NNE 5 to 10 knots tending lighter NNW during the afternoon.

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Forecast Overview
An increase in SW swell saw wave heights nudging up into the two to three foot range across the South Coast on Thursday, marking the beginning of a sustained run of large surf across the region this weekend. The impending swell follows a heightened storm track affecting the southern Indian Ocean over the past week or so – significant activity that culminated in the development of a very large synoptic scale low affecting our long range swell window over the last few days.

Thursday’s initial increase is a precursor to a far more substantial SW groundswell that should begin to show throughout Friday ahead of a stronger increase making its presence felt this weekend.

Although maximum wind speeds associated with the storm were not overly notable (mostly gale to strong gale force), the sheer dimensions of the storm system and associated wind fetch gave rise to an extensive, 30 to 40 foot wave field spanning the Southern Ocean on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Long period SW groundswell spreading out from this source begins to arrive late on Friday, preceding the bulk of energy making landfall throughout Saturday. This should produce strong five to six foot plus sets across the majority of the South Coast beaches and smaller sets should penetrate the Mid Coast in the two to three foot range. This episode will endure at substantial levels throughout Sunday – still ranging from four to six feet Down South throughout the day.

Initially a high pressure ridge lying across the state is likely to maintain light south-westerly winds across the region on Saturday. As the high migrates further east the onshore flow will ease, tending light and variable across the region on Sunday.

Long Range
The tail end of the groundswell should continue to generate substantial three to four foot plus surf across the South Coast on Monday ahead of a further decline that should see wave heights settling back to relatively low levels into Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 May.

By Thursday 30 May we may see the leading edge of a new, mid range SW groundswell filling in across the region. This linked to a minor low pressure system forecast to develop deep beneath Western Australia early next week; briefly aiming a gale force SW fetch our way. This will be reviewed again on Thursday.