Sunny skies and swell

Hello Friends,

Mostly shutting down and no takers as of 0700.

Hoping to see signs of swell last night, I checked the buoys just before downing tools at around 2300. It was still tiny. But, an hour or so later Huey swept the engine telegraph forward and in the space of six hours the swell jumped from a metre on average at just 6 seconds, to three metres at 11 seconds.

If the time I had to wait to grab this morning’s first snaps is any guide, there’s a bit of a wait between sets (at Dee Why anyway). Size at the point looks to be around the chest high range with the odd bigger one.

Not huge, but a nice looking morning out there.

From the look of the buoy data from down Batemans Bay way, the swell could be near its peak right now, but if we follow the pattern down that way, it should be a gradual and small decline over the day.

The good news is that the forecast models are anticipating a steady supply of swell across the next week. So while we can expect a bit of a drop in size today, it should remain comfortably in the surfable range into Saturday. And that’s a good thing.

Hope you’re able to get amongst it. I’ll be making an effort to get out and about with a camera at some point, so with luck I’ll have a few more piccies for later.

Go well!

Tides: H 1150, L 1836

Synoptic Situation
A deep low over the southern Tasman Sea, moving steadily east. Winds will continue to ease this morning as the low moves further away. A high pressure ridge will develop across northern NSW today, then will move into the Coral Sea on Friday as another front moves into western NSW. This front is expected to cross the coast early Saturday.

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Strong Wind Warning.
Thursday until midnight: Wind: W/SW 20/30 knots, chiefly offshore, easing to 15/20 knots during the morning, then tending NW/NE 10/15 knots in the afternoon.Sea: 2 to 3 metres offshore, abating to about 1 metre.Swell: S 3 to 4 metres.
Friday: Wind: NW 10/15 knots, turning N/NE 20/30 knots in the afternoon/evening. Sea: about 1 metre rising 2 to 3 metres in the afternoon. Swell: S 2 to 3 metres decreasing 1 to 2 metres during the day.
Saturday: Wind: W/NW 25/35 knots.

C C

Fine, dry and mild on the Central Coast this Thursday morning.  The swell is smooth and big at 2 –  4 feet + from the east.  There is a light northwest breeze at the moment forecast to go northeast later.  Low tide 0510 and high tide around 1150.  Local barometer 1004 hpa, 11 degrees C. 83% humidity.   Have a good one. Realsurfers while Don is surveying Digital SLR cameras, I  have a brand new Digital SLR underwater housing by DiCapac 100% waterproof SLR housing up to 5 metres (takes long lenses).  Never used.  Was going to take it on my Kokoda trek but in the end did not take it.  Worth $180 sell for $120.  Contact Matt on ms2007@bigpond.com

Aussie dust storms – from the Bureau of Meteorology website

THE GREAT DUST-UP OF NOVEMBER 1902.

The year 1902 was one of appalling drought in eastern Australia. Whenever strong winds blew, dessicated soil was whipped into great dust clouds. On the worst day, Wednesday 12 November, northwesterly gales caused exceptional dust-storms to sweep across three states. The winds caused considerable damage in their own right, tearing roofs from buildings and uprooting trees across Victoria, South Australia and southwestern New South Wales.

The storm was first reported in South Australia, where it affected many parts of the state. Thick clouds of dust shrouded Adelaide from early morning, reducing visibility to 20 metres. It would have been quite an experience for Madame Melba, who had sung in the City of Churches the previous evening!

In Victoria and the Riverina, gales and dust began in the morning and worsened as the day went on. Reddish-brown dust filled the air as the temperature climbed to 38°C. A squall line seems to have crossed northern Victoria and the Riverina in the afternoon, because town after town reported a sudden terrifying increase in wind, and dust so thick that it put the town in total darkness for between five and 20 minutes. The winds blew down telegraph poles over western Victoria, and it took days to repair the line from Melbourne to Adelaide. The mail coach from Geelong to Portarlington, caught in the storm, was halted for 20 minutes as the elements terrified horses and passengers alike. After the storm, sand 30cm deep had to be shovelled from the line between Kerang and Swan Hill before trains could pass.

In some towns, “balls of fire” were reported. At Boort in central Victoria they reportedly fell into paddocks and streets, with showers of sparks as they struck the ground. In Chiltern and Deniliquin the balls were blamed for setting fire to buildings. A possible explanation is that fast-moving blowing dust particles generated static electricity, which ignited organic matter carried along with the dust. The experience must have been truly frightening: the sky a lurid red, a hot gale blowing, dust thick enough for almost total darkness, and balls of fire to add to the terror.

In NSW the mail coach from Hay to Deniliquin was delayed nine hours. In Hay itself, the Land Court had to adjourn when the president could not see the papers in front of him. The dust reached Sydney early the next day: northwest winds were lighter, and the dust took the form of a haze that thickened during the day (ships reported that it extended from south of Sydney to Newcastle). Dust clouds reached as far north as Inverell, before heading out to sea.

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/c20thc/storm5

If the wind is calm Wednesday morning…

You may be able to catch a few waves. High tide will just start coming in after 5:00 am. About 7:00 am is sunrise and you should be able to avoid the super high tide later in the morning.

Roberto

Narrabeen Rpt

Small, windy & very dusty

RED DY

It’s fully PSYCHO  out there this morning.  Reddest light I’ve ever seen.

Here’s a shot straight off my camera with auto white balance, no extra reddening…

Dust world

Hello Friends,

Got swirled up into the morning routine and so am running late with my report. As of 0900, I still can’t get a picture of Dee Why from my place. The latest from the Bureau is that we can expect this Baghdad style dust storm to only clear up late in the day. You wouldn’t want to have to put up with this day in and day out.

The wind bringing this dust is pushing along in the 20-25 kt range from the NW. Intriguingly there were little NE wind waves getting into North Narrabeen around 0730 this morning. I have to confess to being surprised at how surfable the waves were. They’re short period and the tide was already filling in, so the juice factor was lacking.

While you might be able to scare up a little something in the way of a wave this morning, tomorrow and Friday are really looking interesting. We might even see something as early as the end of today.

At around daybreak, the Batemans Bay buoy detected the primary swell direction changing to the south. At the same time peak periods leapt from a windswelly 8 seconds to a groundswellesque 12-13 sec. That’s a serious boost to the power levels, but it will probably be late afternoon before the forerunners start becoming obvious here.

But come tomorrow the Bureau tells us that they agree with the models’ call of the last few days, ie solid south swell with offshores in the morning.

And it should stick around for a couple days (although the peak will be tomorrow). What’s more, the long range models are showing the prospect of a repeat performance on Monday morning. Woo-hoo!

Tides: H 1106, L 1740
Synoptic Situation
A strong frontal system is crossing northeastern NSW, with an associated with a deep low off the far South Coast. Winds will strengthen ahead of this front, reaching gale force along most of the coast today before gradually easing later today and overnight as the low moves further out into the Tasman Sea. A high pressure ridge will develop across northern NSW on Thursday then move into the Coral Sea on Friday as another front moves into western NSW. This front is expected to cross the coast early Saturday.

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Gale Warning.
Wednesday until midnight: Wind: W/NW increasing to 35/45 knots early, easing to W/SW 25/35 knots late afternoon, and to 20/30 knots inshore during the evening. Sea: 3 to 5 metres, abating to 2.5 to 3.5 metres later. Swell: NE 1 to 2 metres, with S/SW 3 to 4 metres developing.
Thursday: Wind: W/SW 20/30 knots, easing to 15/20 knots during the morning, then S/SE 10/15 knots during the afternoon.Sea: 1 to 2 metres, reaching 2 to 3 metres early.Swell: S/SW 3 to 4 metres.
Friday: Wind: NW 10/15 knots at first, turning N/NE 15/25 knots in the afternoon/evening.

There are little waves to be had. Tide an issue, and of course there is the dust…

Looking apocolyptic.

Dust scene.

Norffy in the orange light of the dust.

C C

SLR/Digital SLR Camera underwater housing for sale.  See C C report.

C C, (Orange – Red Hue) Dust Storm

Dust storm engulfed, gusty, dry and mild on the Central Coast this Wednesday morning.  The swell is ruffled and very small at 1 –  1.25 feet  from the east.  There is a moderate north northwest breeze at the moment forecast to strengthen later.  Low tide 0435 and high tide around 1105.  Local barometer 992 hpa, 18 degrees C. 37% humidity.   Have a good one. Realsurfers while Don is surveying Digital SLR cameras, I  have a brand new Digital SLR underwater housing by DiCapac 100% waterproof SLR housing up to 5 metres (takes long lenses).  Never used.  Was going to take it on my Kokoda trek but in the end did not take it.  Worth $180 sell for $120.  Contact Matt on ms2007@bigpond.com

ripples in the dust

Long Reef is out there . . . somewhere

Dee Why Point

Dee Why beachfront - can you believe morons are out jogging and working out in this?

Tiny tiny ripples coming into Dee Why through the dust. Wicked morning.