MAUI SURF: New Swells for the New Year

12-year-old Eli Hanneman surfing yesterday on Maui / Image: Dooma Photos

By Meteorologist Malika Dudley / Email: [email protected]

Alerts

A Small Craft Advisory is posted for all Maui County coastal waters (excluding  Māʻalaea Bay) through 6 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. Winds are expected out of the northeast from 15 to 30 knots with higher gusts with rough seas rising to 7 to 17 feet.

A Marine Weather Statement has been issued by the National Weather Service. A front will bring a distinct shift and increase in winds from westerly to northwesterly. Along the front and after it passes winds will increase to 20 to 30 knots with higher gusts. Seas are expected to become rough and steep at 7 to 17 feet. Isolated thunderstorms and lightning could occur ahead of and along the front.

**Click directly on the images below to make them larger. Charts include: Maui County projected winds, forecasted swell direction, height & period, tides, a surface map and expected wave heights.**

Maui County Surf Forecast,  New Year’s Eve, December 31

North: Surf heights are expected head to overhead early in the day for the best breaks, especially for spots east of Ho’okipa. As the day goes on, the swell is expected to build to well overhead and even double overhead by sundown.

West: Spots open to the swells are expected to get waves head high to overhead on the sets at the best northerly breaks by sundown. Otherwise, breaks that don’t catch the swells, and / or are shadowed from them, are forecasted to get smaller surf at ankle high or flat.

South: Mostly flat.

We expect a boost of surf energy out of the north and northwest Wednesday and through the end of the week. Energy lingers into the weekend as it fades out. Since the energy is coming from several directions, it will be a bit haphazard at times.

New overlapping swells are expected for the weekend and beyond for north and west shores. Still pending development of storms. Will keep an eye on it.

Nothing of note out of the SPAC to get excited about.

Keep in mind, surf heights are measured on the face of the wave from trough to crest. Heights vary from beach to beach, and at the same beach, from break to break.  

**Click here for your detailed Maui County weather report.**

Image: NOAA / NWS

Image: NOAA / NWS

Image: NOAA / NWS

Image: NOAA / NWS

Image: NOAA / NWS

Image: NOAA / NWS