Deceptively powerful surf is forecast this weekend, as heavy waves originating from the Southern Ocean hit the coastline.
The heavy surf will be whipped up by a low-pressure system sweeping across the south of the continent later this week.
The map below shows wave heights of 3-4m are expected across the central and southern NSW coast on Friday and Saturday.
Image: Significant wave height forecast at 5pm Saturday, February 3 according to Wave Watch III
The image below shows the wave height forecast off the waters at Sydney for the next 5 days, showing the waves peaking at 4 to 4.5 metres on the weekend.
Image: Significant wave height (blue) and Hmax forecast (black)
These wave heights will create very rough seas off the Sydney and Illawarra coasts on the weekend.
While the waves will be large, it’s the wave period that will generate the deceptively powerful surf.
Wave period is the average time between crests (or troughs) of waves. The larger the time difference, the greater the amount of energy associated with the waves or swells.
The wave period should reach 10-12 seconds along the Sydney coast and south on Saturday.
The map below shows the high period waves impacting the central and southern coastline on Saturday.
Image: Wind wave period at 4pm on Saturday, February 3, according to Wave Watch III
Looking ahead, the long period swell should move offshore by Monday.
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