The small island of Ocean Beach, Whangārei Heads, had waves crashing over the top during Sunday's huge swells on Northland's east coast. Photo / Mike Dinsdale
The small island of Ocean Beach, Whangārei Heads, had waves crashing over the top during Sunday's huge swells on Northland's east coast. Photo / Mike Dinsdale
Swells of up to 10m battered Northland's east coast on Sunday - and the bad news is the big waves could be back on Wednesday.
A southeasterly flow that remained fairly static to the northeast of Northland on Sunday had huge waves pound Northland's east coast, with the combined swelland wind swell reaching up to 10m in some places, MetService Meteorologist Kyle Lee said.
And, Lee said, the big swells will be back on Wednesday and combined with the king tides due this week, could lead to "coastal inundation" along parts of Northland's east coast.
Sunday's huge waves looked spectacular and Lee said the low-pressure system that stalled above Northland would bring more big swells.
''[The low] drew southeasterly winds along Northland's east coast, with strong winds of 45-50 knots (75-90km/h) in places. And with the strong winds come the big swells.
''The swells were generally about three and a half metres, but with the wind waves on top they combined to be 5-7m in many places, with the largest up to 10m in some isolated places, which is pretty significant for Northland.''
He said the seas should be relatively calm today - at least compared with Sunday - but the big waves should be back tomorrow.
Sunday's big waves cut a swath through Ocean Beach at Whangārei Heads, as they battered Northland's east coast. Photo / Mike Dinsdale
''The next peak should be Wednesday through to Thursday morning, then they should ease off again on Thursday afternoon/evening. With the combination of the king tide expected over the next few days we could see combined waves rising back to around 7-8m, potentially causing coastal inundation for parts of Northland,'' Lee said.
You will be able to find information on these swells in MetService's recreational marine forecasts as well as coastal forecasts at bit.ly/MarineForecasts.
Sunday's big swell had waves batter Northland's east coast, including at Bream Bay. Photo / Kevin Wigmore
