Weather News

Large waves this weekend in eastern Australia

Ben Domensino, Friday February 16, 2018 - 17:16 AEDT

Deceptively powerful surf will make beaches dangerous along parts of Australia's east coast this weekend.

A long range swell generated by Severe Tropical Cyclone Gita in the Pacific Ocean will impact Australia's eastern seaboard this weekend.

With no major land masses lying between Gita and Australia, the energy that this powerful cyclone has transferred into the ocean will have no trouble reaching our shores.

Sea heights near Australia's east coast are forecast to reach around 2 to 2.5 metres between Fraser Island and the south coast of NSW during the weekend.

While this isn't as big as it can get, the wave period - which is the time between two successive wave peaks in a swell- will be close to 15 seconds.

Longer wave periods indicate more powerful waves, so as this swell hits beaches along the east coast, there will be some heave sets and lots of water moving around.

With temperatures forecast to reach 37 degrees in western Sydney and the low to mid thirties around Brisbane this weekend, beaches are likely to be busy.

If you do plan on heading to the coast, check if beaches are open before swimming and stay between the flags.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2018

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