The WNW swell was wrapping almost everywhere, I heard even Honolua was shoulder high in the morning. In the afternoon the windsurfers hit Hookipa and these are a couple of beautiful bottom turns captured by Jimmie Hepp in this gallery.
4am significant buoy readings
South shore
Lanai
4.9ft @ 15s from 277° (W)
2.2ft @ 9s from 170° (S)
Wrap still there (got actually bigger), check the webcams!
North shore
NW101
9.5ft @ 14s from 293° (WNW)
Waimea
7.7ft @ 15s from 311° (NW)
Pauwela
4ft @ 15s from 312° (NW)
3.9ft @ 6s from 84° (E)
3.8ft @ 8s from 88° (E)
1.6ft @ 11s from 326° (NW)
Below is the graph of the three reported buoys. 10, 8 and 4 feet are the steady sizes we will see today with the period now down to 14-15s. The difference in size is due very partially to the loss of energy because of the traveling, and much more significantly because of the shadowing of the upstream islands. Lanai has one foot more than Pauwela, that should tell you how west this swell is. Notice also the directions at the two buoys I just mention: 277 and 312. And that's the same exact swell originally coming from around 290-295 and wrapping/refracting south and north of the Hawaiian islands. Fascinating.
I put a red arrow on the direction graph of the NW101 buoy, to show how that didn't change much either, so more of the same today. Hookipa should still be well overhead but smaller than yesterday, hopefully I'll be able to do a beach report and be more precise.
In lack of the MC2km maps (not updated yet at the time of this call, check them out later), here's the HWR model prediction for today from the Windguru page. Another strong easterly wind day.
4.30am satellite shows mostly sunny again.
Current wind map shows:
1) a newly formed westerly fetch. Just like the fetch that made the swell we have on tap today, this one also starts in front of the Southern half of Japan. So, expect similar direction for the first days of the swell which is forecasted by Surfline to peak at 12f 16s at 8pm on Friday.
2) this is what is leftover of the fetch that made the current swell. Still stirring some waves, now from a NW direction
3) narrow windswell fetch. One good thing about the strong easterly trades we've had and we will keep having, is that at least they don't make as big of a windswell as the usual ENE trades. I mean, they do, but it doesn't hit Hookipa as much. Check Pauwela: 4f 8s from 88 will travel offshore of the recognized world windsurfing Mecca. You can always call it like that, but more so these days, with all those pro's out shredding the waves to pieces in front of the photogs lenses. Fun to watch, that's for sure.
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