Madeline Prompts High Surf Warning, Swell Builds
Alerts (as of 1:00 a.m.)
A Tropical Storm Warning is posted for the island of Hawaii.
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.
A Flash Flood Watch is posted from Wednesday morning through late Thursday night.
A Hurricane Watch is posted for waters around the Big Island.
Hurricane Madeline updates can found at this link throughout this event.
**Click directly on the images below to make them larger. Charts include: Big Island projected winds, tides, swell direction & period and expected wave heights.**
Hilo side: Wave heights for spots exposed to the trade swell are expected to be knee/chest high today. Madeline swell will build over the afternoon.
Kona side: Wave heights are expected to be ankle/knee high today, basically flat in most spots.
South: Wave heights are expected to be ankle/knee high at the best breaks. Spots catching trade swell are knee/chest high at the best exposed breaks. New Madeline swell will build over the afternoon.
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 afternoon and peak on Wednesday 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.