Swell Story: TC Lucas Pushes Kirra s Button
Early February time for the Gold Coast to dance.
Harry Martin, Coolangatta Beach. Photo: Andrew Shield
Nick Carroll
Link copied to clipboard
Tropical cyclone season in a La Niña year can be a total tease. Anticipation builds for weeks, if not months. Old guys tell you crusty yet epic stories of that 28 day swell in 1975. The weather maps look good, and then they don’t.
Then at some point, things start popping.
That’s just what happened during the first week of February, when two tropical cyclones popped in quick succession, and loaded up several days of magic along Australia’s best known super-points.
Link copied to clipboard
If you’re a fan of sizeable easterly swell on Australia’s East Coast, then now is your time. This event isn’t shaping up as the kind of thumping, long-period easterly swell event that tropical cyclones occasionally generate (see Cyclone Oma). But what it lacks in size and power will be compensated for by its longevity and consistency – not to mention the pretty close to ideal local conditions for southern Queensland’s points. The swell hits full stride, delivering maximum size to the southern Queensland and northern New South Wales(NSW) coasts Friday through Sunday, while spreading down the NSW coast at a slightly smaller, but still sizeable level.