The National Weather Service has continued the High Surf Advisory for east facing shores of all islands except Lana`i effective through 6pm this evening. The windswell should stay near the 4-7 foot range along our east and northeast facing shores today but it will drop a notch over the next several days. This windswell should still wrap into select areas around the island as well. North and northwest facing shores may drop to tiny levels around 3-5 foot early today but a new minor northwest swell should fill in late in the day, potentially building to head-high levels or slightly better. Upper West breaks will likely stay tiny at only 1-3 foot but some areas may get a little wrapping windswell if you know where to look. South facing shores will stay flat at only 0-2 foot possibly picking up tiny windswell wrap at select breaks.
The new incoming northwest swell may not reach Maui's shores until later in the day or even Thursday but it too is just a minor edge-pass with most of its energy passing far to the east of the islands. This pattern will continue for the next several days as a slightly better aimed north-northwest swell filling in Friday and yet another slightly larger bump arriving Saturday. Thankfully a more significant northwest swell is developing east of Japan that should provide us with more winter-like surf action after the weekend. The models show more action to follow, so keep your fingers crossed, as a lot can change over the next few days. Pray for surf! It looks like we may see a south-southeast swell developing through the end of the week, but the French Polynesian islands will block much of that energy. More details to come.
Missing Surfer/Camper Alert
Maui police are searching for 43-year-old Laura Vogel. Vogel was last seen on Sunday, February 21, 2010. Her van was found in the Pauwela Lighthouse Area of Maui's North Shore on Monday. It is thought that she was camping in the area on Sunday night. Vogel is approximately 5'7" with blond hair and blue eyes.
If you have any information on her whereabouts, please contact the police department at 808-244-6425.
Wind & Tide Info
The strong easterly tradewinds will continue around 20-25 mph today and some areas may see stronger gusts. The winds will ease off a little over the next several days while swinging to a more east-northeasterly direction. The Maui Tide Report for today is: High tide at Kahului was 2.0 foot at 12:35am late last evening, dropping to a low of 0.7 foot at 7:40am this morning, rising slightly to a high of 1.0 foot at 11:49am just before noon, then fading through the afternoon to a low of 0.1 foot at 5:40pm early this evening.
Maui Weather
The strong tradewinds will continue to dominate our weather today but should decrease later in the day but wind speeds will likely stay on the strong end through the next few days. The gusty winds may be able to blow over more widespread showers today and some windward and mauka areas could see heavy rainfall at times. A trough is anticipated to affect the islands over the weekend which could trigger even more rains and possibly heavier rain early in the upcoming week. The high pressure is expected to shift through the day today which will slacken the pressure gradient, potentially swinging to the southeast over the weekend until a strong front arrives Monday along with strong northwest to northerly winds. In other words, expect plenty rain through the period.
The National Weather Service has issued a High Surf Advisory for all east facing shores except Lana`i, effective through 6pm Wednesday. The strong tradewinds have whipped up a windswell large enough to post the flags along our east facing shores as wave heights rise to around 4-7 foot and possibly higher at the best exposed breaks. Of course this surf will be short-period, sloppy and choppy, so don't get too excited. Our north and northwest facing shores will continue to drop in size but many breaks will be dominated by the stormy windswell around 3-5 foot or slightly higher. Upper West breaks should be small although wrapping tradeswell may offer surf around 2-4 foot. South facing shores are near flat at only 0-3 foot, but some areas could see some wrapping windswell too. Hopefully we'll see another northwest swell grazing the state late Wednesday or more likely Thursday, but wave heights will be well below advisory levels.
The increasing windswell is courtesy of a building high north of the state after the passage of an upper-level trough. Strong tradewinds will keep this surf elevated over the next several days but will also pummel down any groundswell that rolls through as well, making for rough and stormy conditions through the week. Our next round of winter swell was produced by a fetch generated far to the northwest of the state that aimed most of the winds toward a target east of the islands. We should see a northwest swell arriving as early as late Wednesday but we'll probably need to wait until Thursday here on Maui before we see anything decent. And actually, wave heights aren't going to be all that great anyway, maybe reaching overhead levels if we're lucky. At least we won't go flat... just keep reminding yourself that. Another slightly larger northwest to north-northwest is setting up for a late Friday/Saturday arrival that may reach a little overhead if we're lucky. More details to come as that swell develops. Looking further out, the storm track is finally shifting and should straighten out over the next several days, just in time to allow a broad fetch originated east of Japan to take aim over many days as it trackd to the east. If all goes well, we should see an above advisory level swell arriving around Monday. It's too early to be certain, but the models suggest more winter action later in the period. The winter season may be winding down, but it's not over yet! Looking down to the South Pacific, there is a slight chance of a minor bump filling in Friday into Saturday, but it is quite doubtful that it would amount to much, if anything. We may see some background swell coming up through the period. The models continue to hint toward a potential south swell developing over the weekend so stay tuned for details. Pray for surf!
Missing Surfer/Camper Alert
Maui police are searching for 43-year-old Laura Vogel. Vogel was last seen on Sunday, February 21, 2010. Her van was found in the Pauwela Lighthouse Area of Maui's North Shore on Monday. It is thought that she was camping in the area on Sunday night. Vogel is approximately 5'7" with blond hair and blue eyes.
If you have any information on her whereabouts, please contact the police department at 808-244-6425.
Wind & Tide Info
The east-northeast tradewinds will strengthen while clocking more to the east today reaching speeds of 20-25+ mph with strong gusts in some areas. This patter should hold through at least Wednesday. The Maui Tide Report for today is: High tide at Kahului was 1.9 foot at 12:02am late last night, dropping to a low of 0.7 foot at 8:12am this morning, barely rising to a high of 0.8 foot at 10:41am later in the morning hours, then dropping through the afternoon to a high of 0.3 foot at 4:42pm... rising through the evening to a high of 2.0 foot at 12:35am.
Maui Weather Strong and gusty tradewinds will dominate the weather pattern over the next couple of days but will slowly fade over the second half of the week. High pressure at the surface far north of the state is responsible for these gusty winds but the models show this high weakening into a ridge late in the week which will lead to a drop in wind speeds over the weekend. Clouds and tradeshowers should be typical and focused over windward and mauka areas, but the strong winds may blow a shower over to leeward mauka areas at times. A Wind Advisory has been issued through 6pm this evening as the winds increase later in the day out of the east. Even stronger winds are blowing over Haleakala that will likely persist through Wednesday morning. A surface low in the Gulf of Alaska is forecast to push down a cold front late next weekend but it's too early to discuss yet.
Surf Report 
