Cyclone Vainau Smashes NZ and Bells Gears Up for 50-year Storm*
Final Day at Bells could be epic, there's a fresh east swell for Oz, and New Zealand goes XL
*or just very big Bells Bowl
Two large, purple blobs are converging in the Southern Ocean and Coral Sea, will provide substantial swell for the eastern and southern coasts of Australia. That’s good news for the WSL competitors at Bells over the weekend, while surfers in NSW, Queensland and especially NZ could be getting another dose of big wave action.
For Bells, after the solid day of fun, but wobbly waves on Wednesday, a new, bigger swell arrives on the weekend. For Saturday, the last day of the waiting period, the energy rating for the SW swell ratchets up from 600 kJ at dawn to 2,500 by lunch and reaches 9,000 kJ by evening. If that arrives in time, we could see a 10-foot-plus Bells Bowl for the Finals. Yep, death on a stick!
Meanwhile, up in the Coral Sea, Cyclone Vaianu is a deep low-pressure system that should intensify as it tracks south. It has already smashed Fiji and the Solomon Islands, and is now heading to New Zealand. It will fan out to the East Coast of Australia, with a solid, 2 metre, long- period East swell, hitting the Gold Coast down to the South Coast of NSW on Sunday and Monday. We could see a repeat of last week’s slab fest.
Meanwhile, the Northeast coast of the North Island of NZ sees a historic, huge swell. On Sunday, we have some waves on the Coromandel Peninsula peaking well above 6 metres and up towards 9m with an energy rating exceeding a whopping 20,000kj, all be it with gale force winds. As the low sheers into the Pacific, it will provide solid swell hits from Gisborne to Dunedin. It will be wild and woolly, but some of the once-in-a-decade Kiwi novelty spots could turn on.
We’ll keep an eye on it, or better still, you can track any of our 7000 surf spots with our premium 16-day forecast. Good luck out there.
