Advisory Level Swell Today, More Swells Ahead

Dolphins on Maui / Image: Chris Archer

By Meteorologist Malika Dudley / Email: [email protected]

Alerts

A Small Craft Advisory has been issued for all Maui County waters from noon today through 6:00 a.m. Wednesday for winds of 25 knots or more and rough seas from 9 to 16 feet.

A Gale Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service for all offshore waters.

A High Surf Advisory is posted for north-facing shores of Maui and Moloka’i through 6:00 a.m. Wednesday for 10 to 15 foot faces. 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.**

Maui County Surf Forecast

North: Surf heights are expected well overhead today. Best breaks east of Ho’okipa could see bigger waves on the sets to double overhead maybe even reaching 15 foot faces, especially early in the day.

West: Spots open to the north could see wave heights of about head high to a couple feet overhead, bigger early in the day on the sets. Otherwise, breaks that don’t catch the swells, and / or are shadowed from them, are forecasted to get smaller surf at ankle to knee high.

South: Choppy and sloppy southwest wind chop swell from knee to chest high.

Our current swell peaked late Monday and should hold strong Tuesday. The swell will be on a decreasing trend but solid overhead to double overhead surf is still expected. This swell should fade midweek.

A few storms are showing up on models expected to bring more waves later this week and into the next. If these storms develop as expected we could see a couple of solid swells headed our way.

Nothing to get excited about out of the SPAC. Late next week we could possibly see some fun waves from a storm expected to develop near 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.**

Image: NOAA / NWS

Image: NOAA / NWS

Image: NOAA / NWS

Image: NOAA / NWS

Image: NOAA / NWS