Hello Friends,

My usual leisurely start to Sunday and this morning looks to have been a good one for the early. Swell is around about the same size as yesterday, but there seem to be a great many more participants. Yesterday there were people up and down the Collaroy-Narrabeen stretch, but today the numbers seem to be massing up at the north end where there are a number of weak waist to chest high lumps and bumps dribbling in. You’d want to be very patient out there today.

According to the MHL Sydney buoy, this morning’s waves are mainly coming from the NE at about 7 seconds apart. The average height at sea is around the 1.5-2 metre mark.

Around at Dee Why, the numbers are equally abundant, but spread out more from Longy all the way down to the corner. It’s smaller than Northy, but you could get a few fun ones with your most floaty craft.

Next tide is a high around 1415.

Weather Situation

A slow-moving high pressure system near New Zealand extends a ridge to Queensland coast while a trough is approaching from the west. The trough will appear as a slowly moving southerly change in the far south early on Monday reaching central parts on Tuesday with a possible weak low developing just off the Central Coast.

Forecast for Sunday until midnight

Winds: Northerly 20 to 30 knots tending north to northeasterly 15 to 25 knots during the morning then increasing to 20 to 30 knots by early evening. Seas: Up to 3 metres decreasing to 2 metres around midday then increasing to 2 to 3 metres by early evening. Swell: Northeasterly 1.5 metres. Isolated thunderstorms inshore this afternoon and evening.

Forecast for Monday

Winds: Northerly 10 to 20 knots, reaching 30 knots at times, tending north to northwesterly up to 15 knots around dawn then tending northwest to southwesterly later in the evening. Seas: Up to 3 metres decreasing to below 1 metre around dawn. Swell: Northeasterly about 1.5 metres. Isolated thunderstorms inshore from the late morning, extending throughout from midday.

Forecast for Tuesday

Winds: South to southeasterly 10 to 15 knots tending east to southeasterly during the afternoon. Seas: Below 1 metre. Swell: Northeasterly about 1.5 metres. Isolated thunderstorms offshore early in the morning.

Hello Friends,

MIDDAY UPDATE:

Went for a splash this morning. Started by checking south Narrabeen, but only an hour or so after I posted this morning’s pics, it was already looking much more ordinary. The banks are pretty straight along there at the moment, so on the lowish tide the chest high sets were crashing over in unmakeable style. There were a few bods having a go, but an extended watch did not see anyone even risk a take off. So I headed down to the Longy-Dee Why stretch for a look. Carpark was very busy because there’s a big club comp on. I walked down toward the pole and after watching it for a bit decided to just get wet. If I caught any waves, it’d be a bonus.

Water was kinda chilly. But then we have had NE’rly wind for a few days and that always knocks the temps down. Sets were struggling to make chest high and even then, the short period and steadily increasing onshore insured that they were kinda weak and slow. Anyway, it was good to be in the ocean and paddling around with the hope of a wave on a beautiful spring morning in Sydney. Ya wouldn’t be dead for quids!

Outlook is for the wind to pick up as the day goes along, so there might be some wind swell ramps and lumps worth chasing as we get toward dusk. Bureau says the wind will power on through the night and still be going stiffly tomorrow morning. That being the case, we could maybe see the average size at rideable spots improving over this morning’s offerings.  The NEr is set to build up again tomorrow afternoon. Overnight Sunday the Bureau says it’ll go more north, so I’m thinking there is a chance the early on Monday could be worth the effort.  We shall see!

Hey, don’t forget to check out www.welovewaves.org for all the latest on next weekend’s conference. Programs with this kind of direct focus on matters of concern to surfers really don’t come along too often, so I hope to see a few of you there!

earlier I wrote

We’ve got some waves this morning. As hoped for overnight, the steady NE has kicked up some rideable wind swell waves at spots exposed to the primary NE direction of the energy. Sets are into the chest high range, so it’s a bit bigger than I’d anticipated yesterday. Tide’s coming in this morning, so there’s another reason to get yourself out and about for a look.

Weather Situation

A high over the Tasman Sea extends a ridge to southeast Queensland, while a low pressure trough lies across western New South Wales, where it will remain through the weekend. A vigorous northerly airstream will affect coastal regions during this period as a marked pressure difference develops between the two systems, although a brief southerly change will affect southern parts this evening as a front passes to the south.

Forecast for Saturday until midnight

Winds: North to northeasterly 15 to 25 knots inshore, reaching 30 knots offshore. Seas: 2 to 3 metres. Swell: Northeasterly about 1 metre.

Forecast for Sunday

Winds: North to northeasterly 20 to 30 knots decreasing to 15 to 25 knots around dawn then becoming northeasterly 25 to 30 knots later in the evening. Seas: Up to 3 metres decreasing to 2 metres around midday then increasing to 2 to 3 metres later in the evening. Swell: Northeasterly 1.5 metres.

Forecast for Monday

Winds: Northerly 10 to 20 knots, reaching 25 knots at times, decreasing below 15 knots during the morning then tending northeast to southeasterly up to 10 knots during the afternoon. Winds tending northwest to southwesterly up to 20 knots during the evening. Seas: Up to 3 metres decreasing below 1.5 metres during the morning. Swell: Northeasterly about 1.5 metres. Scattered thunderstorms from midday.

The next routine forecast will be issued at 4:05 pm EDT Saturday.