Qld weather: Extreme system to bring high winds, huge seas

An extreme weather system that brought huge seas to the NSW coast will hit popular Queensland beaches this weekend, causing hazardous conditions.

An extreme weather system that battered the NSW coast earlier this week will bear down on popular southeast Queensland beaches this weekend.

Winds of up to 55km/h are expected to hit the southeast coast Friday morning, with offshore swells to 4m and seas set to reach 3m heading into Saturday.

Weather system that bashed Sydney beaches makes its way to Queensland

The system has already battered large parts of New South Wales, with waves of 11.5m already reported along the southern coast, all due to a deep low-pressure system over the Tasman Sea.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued hazardous surf warnings and strong wind warnings along the southeast coast, with the system expected to be felt as far north as Fraser Island.

“You’ll see those peak swells of up to 4m hitting the coast from Friday, though they should be coming down heading into Saturday evening,” meteorologist Shane Kennedy said.

A surfer is dwarfed by whitewater at Sunshine Beach as a southerly swell from an east coast low pushes big waves into southeast Queensland. Picture: Lachie Millard

“Even with the rough sea conditions, it would still be sunny skies for the southeast all the way into next week as well.”

While onshore conditions won’t be too “extravagant” this morning, Gold Coast’s chief lifesaver Warren Young warned that could change very quickly as the system continued to move.

“We keep an eye on things. Really, when it comes to the surf, you have to monitor it hour by hour,” he said.

“Even if you’re the most experienced surfer, don’t overestimate your ability.”