This may be a surprise to you, but it's gonna be mostly flat again today on all shores with no swells to mention aside from the rough moderate easterly windswell. The only source for surf today, the windswell should offer rough and junky slop in the 4-6 foot range on our east exposed breaks, wrapping in to select exposed breaks on our north and northeast facing shores. Without the windswell, our north and northwest facing breaks will stay flat at 0-2 foot, but as mentioned, some breaks may pick up on a little windswell action. Upper West breaks will also come in flat at 0-2 foot. Tiny background swell on our south facing shores isn't rideable at only 0-2 foot and not much is on the way. We may see a minor edge pass arriving later Saturday into Sunday on our north and northwest facing shores, but the swell was aimed poorly toward our islands and most of its energy will miss us. We should go back to flat again until a pair of swells arrive around mid-week, but it's too early for any confidence. A cyclone spinning up far to the west of the state is modeled to go extra-tropical next week to take aim directly at Hawai`i, but it will also be fading during that time so not much swell is expected at the moment. But that could easily change, and the setup looks pretty good. Keep those fingers crossed.
Wind & Tide Info
The easterly tradewinds will increase to low-end strong levels around 15-20 mph with stronger gusts through the day today before moderating to fresh speeds through the weekend. Low tide at Kahului was 0.8 foot at 1:13am late last night, rising slightly to a high of 0.9 foot at 3:22am, fading again to a low of -0.3 foot at 10:30am this morning, then rising to 2.3 foot at 6:47pm early this evening.
Maui Weather
The surface ridge north of the state will increase the tradewinds a half-notch today into the 15-20 mph range with stronger gusts. This increase should be temporary and the trades will likely return to fresh speeds tomorrow and through the weekend. Windward and mauka areas may see some shower activity, potentially even blowing over to select leeward areas later in the day. As the ridge weakens and sinks closer to the islands, the winds should lighten and shift to the southeast around Tuesday... likely pushing another round of choking vog over the island.
No forecast update Friday... No real change... yet.
SOUTH PACIFIC: I guess we shouldn't be surprised that it's flat. We can hope that the long summer ahead will offer swells of epic proportion and consistency, but the reality is that summer surf on Maui stinks. For those who have forgotten that fact, just visit your favorite break to see how flat it is. A tiny background swell may be found at our best exposed breaks, but most shores will remain flat at only 0-2 foot and I wouldn't expect anything more than a weak and mushy thigh-slapper at best. The monster storm that produced last weeks swell left the South Pacific battered and bruised but the jetstream is slowly shaping up again. Storm activity will be focused in the Tasman Sea and it looks like only two minor gales will try sending up some southwesterly action to our shores. As most of you know, this is not a favorable area for Hawaiian surf production, as much of the energy gets lost while passing by the hundreds of south seas islands on its journey to our beaches, not to mention the long distance. The first of these gales is already on the water and fading, if anything reaches Hawai`i it will be around next weekend. The second low will push up under Tasmania over the weekend but is expected to fade out without sending up much of a swell. But that's all the hope we have, at least for the moment.
NORTH PACIFIC: Our northern shores are also mainly flat at 0-2 foot although select breaks could see a choppy and tiny windswell wrapping in for you die-hards. High pressure north of the state will maintain strong easterly tradewinds that will keep our east facing shores under a moderate 3-5 foot windswell through the next several days, so at least there is something for us to ride. A weak low pressure system set up near the dateline and pushed a minor NW (320-350º) swell but it was not aimed well toward us and much of this energy will miss Hawai`i. Any swell that does make it to our shores should arrive late in the day Saturday into Sunday at tiny to small heights, possibly holding into Monday. A better pattern is modeled to take shape around mid-week, but its still too early to discuss. Do what you can to survive the Flatness, it shouldn't last too long.
Globe is stoked to announce the return of the Globe Pro Fiji to the ASP Men’s World Tour this May. The 4th stop on the tour is in again in Fiji, following a hiatus in 2007 due to circumstances beyond our control. Yep, defending event champion Damien Hobgood, Taj, CJ, Kelly, Mick, Parko, Pancho and the rest of the top 45 will pull on their competition jerseys once again to compete in the perfect lefts of Cloudbreak and/or Restaurants.
The planning phase for the third installment of the Globe Pro Fiji is well underway, and as you’ve come to expect, the webcast will be a new level of entertainment, personality and nostalgia. Nostalgia, you ask? Don’t worry about it, you’ll find out soon enough.
