This one looks like an absolute corker!
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Phenomenal seas for Tasmanian coastal waters
Updated: 14/09/2010
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A surge of gale to storm force winds through the Southern Ocean is going to give rise to phenomenal seas through western and southern coastal waters of Tasmania during Thursday. Maximum wave heights should reach the 14-20m range (45-66ft) off the Tasmanian coastline as the swell peaks. Parts of the Victorian and New South Wales coastlines will also be pounded by huge swells late this week.
A broad region of gale to storm force winds (see Beaufort Wind Scale) will form during Wednesday along the back of a deep low pressure system. These extremely strong winds will stretch all the way from the Antarctic continent to the southern tip of Tasmania. This is a distance of over 2000km, which will allow huge swells to build up into Thursday as the extremely strong winds continue.
For experienced surfers in the Hobart region there looks like being surf on some highly protected point breaks near South Arm late on Thursday afternoon and early on Friday morning. It is a rare occurrence to see surf of any great size in this region, with an event like this happening only once every 2-3 years on average.
Thursday will only be a day for dedicated surfers through, with temperatures hovering in low single digits through the day. It's not out of the question that snow will fall on beaches south of Hobart during Thursday as an extremely cold, polar blast moves through.
The same winds that will generate the huge swells for Tasmania will also drag an airmass all the way from the Antarctic ice shelf into the south of the state on Thursday, delivering the coldest pulse of air seen in the south of the state all year.
The weather pattern mid this week is not too dissimilar to that of July 1986, when heavy snow fell to sea level in Hobart, although snow is unlikely to settle on the ground like it did in that year.
Huge and powerful swell will also reach further a field than Tasmania, with areas in southwestern Victoria and southern New South Wales also in for a pounding.
