Wind patterns on the NSW coast
This seasonal breakdown is a courtesy of the legendary Pete Smith from www.kitesurfing.com.au
Spring
Cool sea temperatures (rising from 16c-17c up at its coldest) and fresh sunshine and a heated interior should lead to the start of Sea Breezes from the NE. Mornings will probably be quite still with a light westerly depending on land temps. The wind rose below shows the bias for 9am in spring time from the west with southerly busters coming in. (left) on the right we can see the NE sea breeze bias where the cool sea temp and land temp combine to give us the cranking NE’ers we love.
Summer
The BEST time of year in Sydney! Hot with a decent hit of humidity. As sea temps start to rise with warm water coming down from QLD and the effects of the sun, the NE effects of a true seabreeze will start to fade. When summer comes to an end the water temp keeps rising higher and the land temps start to decrease then the NE’ers will start to decrease in strength. We do get a LOT of BIG southerly busters in Summer, big fronts that push through Sydney and can turn a nice 25c-30c day into a 20c wind day of sand blasting on the beach. Watch out for these on the forecasts, they can come with NO clouds or other signs of impending doom and can push a front of 35+ knots. Care needs to be taken at places like Kurnell where NE onshore can turn into a direct offshore and blow you onto the airport! (DO NOT LET YOUR KITE GO, use the safety or body drag or Dolls / Brighton)
Autumn
Autumn. Warm colours, beautiful sunrises and sunsets. The wales will be starting to head north. Winds start to get westerly in the mornings as the warm sea temps suck air off the cool interior back out to sea. Surf will start to arrive now and with offshore winds kiting will start to become more difficult.
Winter
It’s getting cold, it probably is cold! water temps could still be OK just under 19c. They will continue to decrease all the way down to 16c. The wind is pretty much off shore now or southerly. West and north west show high on this chart but SW does seem quite common. Being on the east coast makes this tough for kiting, it’s all gusty and off shore but there is hope!!
Checking the wind forecast
- www.seabreeze.com.au is a one of the best kitesurfing wind resources around. With wind forecasts for each state. SeaBreeze has a 7-day forecast, as well as today’s actual records of the main kiting areas around NSW
- www.bom.gov.au The Bureau Of Meteorology is the center for all weather data, historic wind details, realtime wind and weather information along with rain radars and other useful information. Two popular resources are the Latest Weather Observations and the Current Radar (which shows current rain as well as weather station information).
- www.willyweather.com.au is another good resource with wind and swell forecast across a vast number of beaches around Australia.
Then have a look at our kiteboarding locations map to find the most suitable spot for the conditions!