Granted that winter here on Maui is nothing like what most of you face. But there’s definitely a change in the seasons. Our reliable trade winds go away for extended periods and cold fronts swing down across the Hawaiian islands bringing rain and swinging winds around from varying directions.
We just had a cold front pass through last night. Winds here yesterday were out of the southwest (trade wind direction is NE to E). Winds are very light today and will probably remain so for several days. There’s a slight chance they may pick up later this afternoon for a brief period, but I’ll be surprised if it’s sailable. Looks like Tuesday is the next best chance for trade wind like winds and they’ll probably be short-lived.
While the wind is on vacation the surf is another story. We’re in the middle of several large to extra-large surf episodes on the north shore. A mondo surf episode is lining up for tomorrow with wave heights of 25 – 30 feet and up to 40 feet on the outer reefs predicted. Then an even larger swell is forecast to arrive in the Monday – Tuesday timeframe. My prediction is that even if there is enough wind to venture out into these coming swells on Tuesday, Hookipa should be closed out and with surf that big, Kanaha from Uppers and Camp One to Lowers and Kite Beach will likely be closed out too. Most likely going to be a Jaws day for those with nads of steel. Probably a good day to watch from shore for most of us.
