South corners the go
Hello Friends,
At around 0830 when I grabbed the snaps, swell was 2.7 metres, dead south at 9-10 seconds apart. Wind was SW at 8-13 kts and skies were mostly clear. As you can see from the pics, the shortish period and straight south direction mean most of the energy is staying out to sea. There were infrequent little sets at Collaroy as per above, and even the occasional gentle thing at Whiterock. Around the corner it was pretty much blown out at Long Reef and very scrappy from there to about kiddies. The point had a small and hopeful crowd waiting for the odd waistish set.
Half an hour later the wind was south, but that may have been a blip because the Bureau’s call is for SW until around the middle of the day. Tide was a modest 0.9 m high at 0900 and is currently draining out to a very low -0.7 m at 1545.
Swell’s expected to be into the 3-4 metre range later today and it should be pretty close to that again for Christmas day. Wind’s looking okay too, with S-SW early becoming light and variable later in the day. Could be a nice Chrissie present for Sydney surfers. And prospects aren’t too bad for small but surfable conditions Thursday through maybe to Saturday…
Happy Christmas to all who celebrate it!
Weather Situation
A cold front that crossed southeastern New South Wales is heading into the southern Tasman Sea and deepening into a low pressure system, while its associated trough is heading to the far northeast corner, bringing a gusty southerly wind change in the wake. These systems will be followed by a high pressure ridge across the state, with easing onshore winds along the coast for Christmas period. Then north to northeasterly winds will strengthen ahead of the next cold front crossing the state later in the week, bringing another gusty southerly wind change behind.
Forecast for Tuesday until midnight
- Winds
- Southwesterly 15 to 20 knots, reaching up to 25 knots offshore in the late morning and afternoon. Winds turning southerly in the early afternoon.
- Seas
- Around 1 metre, increasing to 1 to 2 metres during the morning.
- Swell
- Southerly 2.5 to 3 metres inshore, increasing to 3 to 4 metres offshore.
- Weather
- Partly cloudy.
- Caution
- Large and powerful surf conditions are expected to be hazardous for coastal activities such as crossing bars by boat and rock fishing.
Wednesday 25 December
- Winds
- South to southwesterly 10 to 15 knots, reaching up to 20 knots offshore during the morning. Winds becoming variable about 10 knots in the middle of the day then becoming east to southeasterly 10 to 15 knots in the late afternoon.
- Seas
- 1 to 1.5 metres, decreasing to 1 metre during the morning.
- Swell
- Southerly 3 to 4 metres, decreasing to 2.5 to 3 metres during the morning.
- Weather
- Mostly sunny.
- Caution
- Large and powerful surf conditions are expected to be hazardous for coastal activities such as crossing bars by boat and rock fishing.
Thursday 26 December
- Winds
- Variable about 10 knots becoming northeasterly 15 to 25 knots during the day.
- Seas
- Below 1 metre, increasing to 1 to 2 metres during the afternoon or evening.
- Swell
- Southerly 1 to 2 metres, tending southeasterly around 1 metre during the afternoon or evening.
- Weather
- Sunny.