Swell Remains Elevated Today But Disorganized
By Meteorologist Malika Dudley / Email: [email protected]
Alerts
A Small Craft Advisory is posted for Maui County windward waters and the Kaiwi channel through 6:00 p.m. Friday for rough seas up to 10 feet.
A High Surf Advisory is posted for north-facing shores of Maui and Moloka’i until 6:00 a.m. Sunday for 12 to 16 foot faces. The west of Moloka’i is also under the advisory with 8 to 12 foot faces forecasted. Expect strong breaking waves, shore break and strong longshore and rip currents making swimming difficult and dangerous.
**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.**
North: Surf heights are expected double overhead today. The best breaks open to the swell could be even bigger waves up to three times overhead. Disorganized, messy conditions are expected with sheltered spots showing best. Increasing trend in the afternoon.
West: Spots open to the north could see wave heights of about waist to chest high in the afternoon. Otherwise, breaks that don’t catch the swells, and / or are shadowed from them, are forecasted to get smaller surf.
South: Choppy and sloppy southwest wind chop swell from ankle to thigh high.
Our current swell is currently on a downward trend with a secondary peak expected late Saturday into early Sunday. Later today we will see an increasing trend begin again. The surf is expected to be messy and disorganized. Swell is expected to ease on Monday.
A larger west-northwest to northwest swell is expected early next week.
Nothing to get excited about out of the SPAC. Late next week we could possibly see some fun waves from a storm developing southeast of New Zealand.
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.**