Storm Kathleen Warning
Storm Kathleen is going to be passing over the country with Yellow and Orange warnings for individual counties so please refer to the weather warnings from Met.ie pertaining to your area of the country
East Coast
Saturday is looking like there are going to be very strong winds blowing up the Irish Sea gusting to nearly 60mph with swell up to 13ft predicting waves of up to 4-6ft which is quite rare for the east coast but the winds are the real concern as this have the ability to blow anyone off course very easily. In Wicklow the waves should be 3-4ft with bigger on sets with the winds blowing from the south very strong on Saturday. Sunday sees the winds back off but not by much with gusts still running to 50mph with waves in the 2-4ft region. Care should be exercised in these conditions and I would recommend that only experienced surfers get in the water.
South Coast
With the strong southerly winds there are going to be no spots offering shelter on the south coast so no surf on this coast for improvers.
South West
Garretstown is another spot that is going to be maxed out for the weekend for both swell and surf. Inch Beach in Kerry will also be off limits.
West Coast
Lahinch is another spot that is too exposed to Storm Kathleen so give it a miss for this weekend.
North West
Strandhill looks to avoid the brunt of the large swells but does not get missed by the strong winds up to 60mph so avoid. Sunday sees the winds strong cross onshore so again, I would give this a miss. The same can be said for the Bundoran area with Tullan and Rossnowlagh both off limits with the strong winds. Streedagh may have a small on Sunday but the winds will probably be too strong for any enjoyment of said small waves. Of course Monday sees normal service resume!
North Coast
In the Portrush area the winds are the only problem as it does not look like much swell will get into any of the beaches on Saturday. On Sunday the winds are nearly 50mph offshore for the likes of Whiterocks or East Strand which may have the effect of blowing the swell out to sea with 2-3ft conditions forecast but the offshore winds may have something to say about that.
Surf Safe and Enjoy,
Col,
Surf Improvers