Howling winds last night gusted up to 44 mph at the Wai'anae Boat Harbor with lots of near-40 mph gusts at other locations across the state, said lead forecaster Raymond Tanabe.

But by the 5 a.m. start of the 32nd annual Honolulu Marathon on Sunday, the winds should drop to 10 to 15 mph and the mercury will have dipped into the upper 60s.

"It will be light to moderate trades and sunny skies," Tanabe said. "It should be a pretty nice morning."

The weather service yesterday morning issued a high-wind advisory for Kaua'i and O'ahu and later expanded the advisory to the entire state. It remained in effect through 4 p.m. today.

The winds from the north and northeast were expected to be in the 15- to 30-mph range with gusts to 40 mph today, Tanabe said.

The winds may be especially strong in leeward areas and valleys, Tanabe said.

"What happens is the winds get up and over the mountains and they start accelerating on the back side, which are the leeward sections," he said. "So the normally windy valleys, places up in the Pali, that kind of areas, where the winds get funneled, will see the strongest winds."

The weather service advised residents to take precautions against property damage and to hold off on Christmas decorations until the winds die down.

"The concern for us is there are many people who are starting to put up holiday decorations and they may have to watch out for those getting blown off and causing some trouble there. It's just something to watch out for," Tanabe said.

There were no reports of serious damage yesterday, but the strong winds did prompt the city to close the Koko Head Botanical Gardens.

City spokeswoman Carol Costa added that most of the Hono-lulu City Lights displays, especially the 55-foot tree, are shielded by Honolulu Hale and survived strong winds that hit last weekend.

In addition to the winds, a high-surf advisory is in effect for north-facing shores through tomorrow night.

Waves in the 18- to 22-foot range were forecast today and should peak tonight.