Conditions are looking excellent on Friday as the tail end of Thursday’s ESE swell continues to pulse around three feet, combining with lighter westerly winds throughout the morning. A cold front crossing the South Coast during the day leads in a stronger SW flow across the region, gusting up to 20 to 30 knots during the afternoon.

Saturday sees a transition in wave activity as the tail end of the ESE swell is gradually superseded by a new round of directional S swell. Initially a strong westerly bias in a SW wind-fetch setting up off Tasmania is likely to limit any increase to about two to three feet max across the most exposed south facing beaches on Saturday afternoon, with smaller one to two foot surf persisting elsewhere.

During Sunday we’re more likely to see a stronger push in mid period S groundswell pushing up to three to four feet across south facing coasts, marking a peak for this episode ahead of an easing trend setting in early next week.

Friday: ESE swell 3 – 4ft exposed beaches early, easing to 2 to 3ft during the day. WIND: Early NW 10 to 15 knots tending WSW 15 to 20 knots during the morning and increasing to 20 to 30 knots later in the afternoon.

Saturday: ESE swell 2 – 3ft open beaches, directional S windswell increasing to 2 – 3ft at the most exposed south facing beaches during the late afternoon. WIND: SW 15 to 25 knots early tending lighter S during the afternoon.

Sunday: S swell 3 – 4ft south facing beaches, grading to 2 – 3ft open coasts. WIND: Early WSW 5 to 10 knots tending E 10 to 15 knots during the day.

Thursday’s building ESE groundswell eases overnight, easing back into the three foot range by Friday morning. Conditions are looking blown out on Friday by strong E winds linked to the monsoon trough dipping southward across the region. However, conditions should be much improved by Saturday as the tail end of the ESE swell continues to pulse around three feet; most likely combining with lighter inshore SW winds throughout the morning tending light SE into the afternoon.

Saturday sees a transition in wave activity as the tail end of the ESE swell is gradually superseded by a new round of SSE windswell. This is follows a cold front moving up the NSW coast on Friday, leading in a firm high pressure ridge across the state, setting up a building trend in SSE windswell towards two to three feet during the afternoon. Wave heights should hang in at similar levels on Sunday morning before gradually subsiding as the high extends into the Tasman Sea early next week.

Friday: ESE swell 3 - 4ft exposed coasts, easing during the day. WIND: ESE 25 to 35 knots tending SE to SW to 20 to 30 knots during the day.

Saturday: ESE swell 2ft+ exposed coasts, SSE windswell increasing to 2 - 3ft+ south facing coasts during the afternoon. WIND: WSW 10 to 15 knots tending SSE 15 to 20 knots during the day.

Sunday: SE tradewind swell 2 – 3ft exposed coasts, grading smaller elsewhere. WIND: SSE 15 to 20 knots.

The arrival of a big, long interval SW groundswell is now imminent across Victorian coasts; compliments of a deep low pressure system that traversed polar latitudes, beneath the Indian Ocean on Tuesday and Wednesday; establishing a broad area of WSW gales across our long range swell window. The system then aimed a strong gale force SW fetch directly at Victorian coasts as it moved deep beneath Western Australia; a vast fetch verging on 1,000 nautical miles off Victorian coasts on Thursday morning.

This sees a strong push in wave heights underway throughout Friday, building from four to six feet during the morning to a stronger six to eight plus across the Surf Coast during the afternoon. Although there may be a short lived window of strong W winds first thing Friday, a gale force WSW airstream developing behind a strong cold front sets in early morning, making for wind-affected conditions throughout the day. SW groundswell holds peak size into early Saturday morning; up to eight to ten feet across the Surf Coast and gradually easing during the day. Early strong SW winds should moderate during the day.

The low weakens as it continues to migrate eastward beneath the continent on Friday, causing wind strengths to steadily ease in strength over the next 24 hours. This lower strength fetch sets up a continued run of solid waves in the four to six range across the Surf Coast on Sunday.

Large storm swell hitting on Friday and Saturday

Friday: Strong SW groundswell building from 4 to 6ft early to 6 to 8ft+ Surf Coast and 8-10ft open beaches during the afternoon. WIND: Early W tending WSW 20 to 30 knots.

Saturday: Strong SW groundswell. 6 to 10ft Surf Coast early, 8 to 12ft open beaches early. Swell easing off during the afternoon. SW winds 15 to 20 knots easing to 10 to 15 knots later.

Sunday: Easing SW swell 4 to 6ft Surf Coast early, 6 - 8ft+ open beaches, easing later. W/SW winds 5 to 15 knots.

No shortage of good surf across the West Coast this weekend. A long range SW groundswell builds in throughout Friday, albeit with lengthy lulls as the swell arrives. Expect set waves increasing into the six foot plus range across exposes South West Coasts during Friday afternoon and conditions will be excellent under light to moderate ENE winds, tending light SSE to SSW during the afternoon.

The SW groundswell decreases quickly over the weekend as a trough forms across coast and high pressure holds to our south. Local winds tend light and variable as the decreasing SW groundswell tapers off throughout Saturday. This leaves Sunday with leftover inconsistent and small surf for a return to generally flat to tiny conditions in protected areas while ranging from 2-3ft+ across exposed open breaks.

Friday: New SW groundswell increases to 4-6ft Southwest coast, larger 6ft+ sets most exposed breaks. Perth: 1-2ft sets. WINDS: E 10 - 20 knots tending ESE 5 to 15 knots later.

Saturday: SW groundswell decreases. Southwest coast 4 – 5ft fading to 3 – 4ft. Perth: 0.5-1ft

WINDS: ENE 10 - 15 knots early, tending light SSE to SSW during the afternoon.

Sunday: Fading SW swell Southwest coast: 2-3ft+. Perth: flat

WINDS: Early light ESE tending SSE to light and variable.