North shore waves big, gnarly, dangerous
 |
| Children watch the shore break at Waimea Bay. An adult called them back from the water shortly after this photo was taken yesterday.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser |
By Will Hoover
Advertiser North Shore Writer
Big waves hit the North Shore yesterday just as predicted, and with them arrived hordes of onlookers, shutter bugs and passing rubberneckers and at least a few surfers brave (or crazy) enough, to attempt waves that were 20 feet or higher.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
"It's too much for me," said local firefighter and surfer Steve Newton. "I wouldn't touch it."
Spectators line up to watch high surf roll into Waimea Bay. Although the surf will diminish today, the weekend is expected to bring even larger waves.
The National Weather Service reports another ocean storm north of the Islands is generating a swell that should arrive on O'ahu by Sunday, bringing waves more treacherous than today's.
The weather service now reports surf heights based on the face value of a wave, which generally doubles the size of a wave measured on the traditional local scale.
"I don't think the North Shore is going to have any shortage of high surf for a while," said National Weather Service forecaster Bob Burke.
Yesterday, North Shore lifeguard Pat Kelly was advising folks to avoid the surf along the entire North Shore coast — "from Ka'ena Point to Kahuku."
"It's here, it's big, it's gnarly and it's dangerous," said Kelly.
Kelly said people should stay away from any North Shore beach that doesn't have a lifeguard post, "because they could get swept away and die on a day like this."
Burke said that based on the weather service's Buoy No. 1 — about 200 miles northwest of O'ahu — the surf would peak overnight but remain in the 20-foot plus range this morning, and then decrease throughout this afternoon. But the weekend would bring even higher waves, he said.
