Madeline Prompts High Surf Warning, Swell Builds
Alerts (as of 1:00 a.m.)
A Tropical Storm Watch is posted for Maui County. Tropical storm conditions are possible within 48 hours.
A Hurricane Warning is posted for all offshore waters in the Hawaiian Islands.
A High Surf Warning is posted from 6 a.m. Tuesday through 6 a.m. Thursday for east facing shores of Maui. A High Surf Advisory is up for east Molokai and west Maui.
A Hurricane Watch is posted for waters around the Big Island.
A Small Craft Advisory is posted for the Pailolo channel and Māʻalaea Bay through 6 a.m. Friday.
Hurricane Madeline updates can be found at this link throughout this event.
**Click directly on the images below to make them larger. Charts include: Maui County projected winds, tides, swell direction & period and expected wave heights.**
Maui Surf Forecast
North: Wave heights are expected to be knee/waist/chest high today.
West: Surf is pretty flat today. Spots catching the south-southwest stay below waist high.
South: Surf is knee/thigh high or less today.
Minimal background southerly energy over the next few days. The SPAC is going quiet for a while with potential for new south-southwest swell around September 5th or so.
The NPAC is looking pretty quiet as well but models are showing activity in the West and East Pacific. Tropical systems Madeline and Lester are marching closer to the islands and are expected to deliver swell to Hawaii. Madeline swell is forecast to quickly build Tuesday night and peak on Wednesday afternoon before fading out. Lester swell is forecast to move in Friday and peak Saturday up to double or maybe even triple overhead.
Out of the WPAC Lionrock is expected to send west-northwest swell for the second half of the week as well. By Friday we should see forerunners filling in. The swell should peak late Friday and hold through Saturday and into Sunday morning with waist/chest high waves. Maybe up to head high at the best spots.
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.**