Conditions this weekend are looking much more favourable for a swim at your local beach with the swell having dropped dramatically from what we saw last weekend.
We’re expecting surf in the .5m to 1m range across the coast, angling in from the south-east.
The winds will start to swing more northerly and remain predominantly from that direction, picking up from around the middle of the day on Saturday, which will be warm with a top of 31C.
With the northerlies blowing, the usual swimmer havens of Noosa and Mooloolaba are likely to experience more blustery conditions, so the pick of the spots for swimmers will be Kings Beach at Caloundra.
It’s also really important to make sure you slip, slop and slap the sunscreen this weekend with the UV rating expected to be in the extreme range.
Sunday looks cooler, with a top of 27C and the chance of showers.
The powerful swell we saw last weekend made for really difficult conditions for our lifesavers and lifeguards with a large number of rescues carried out, including a number of ambulance call-outs after swimmers struck trouble.
Thankfully, we didn’t have a tragedy but the events on the Gold Coast show just how quickly they can occur with three drownings in the space of four days.
If you’re down at Mooloolaba, you’ll see some of our future Lifesavers showing their skills at the Sunshine Coast Surf Life Saving Youth Championships with water events for our Under 8s to 12s taking place.
It’ll be great to get them back in the water after the event was postponed last weekend due to the dangerous conditions. Good luck to all those competing!
As always make sure you only swim between the flags.
Aaron Purchase is Surf Life Saving Queensland’s regional manager for the Sunshine Coast. His column in sunshinecoastnews.com.au appears each Friday to keep the community informed of what’s happening on the beach and how to stay safe in the water.
