Updated at 9:16 a.m., Thursday, December 28, 2006
North Shore: Still less-than-turbulent surf this morning
Advertiser Staff
The big surf expected today has yet to roll into the North Shore.The waves were choppy and well below surf-advisory levels at sunrise.
Still, the forecast for the winter season's biggest swells - expected to hit north and west shores later this morning through late this afternoon - is still in place, along with a high-surf warning that's in effect until 6 p.m. tomorrow.
The National Weather Service surf forecast is predicting surf along north and west shores to rise to 30 to 40 feet on Kaua'i and to hit 30 to 35 feet on O'ahu's North Shore.
Surf will be slightly smaller on Molokai and Maui.
The high surf is being generated by a large northwest swell generated by a passing storm north of the islands a couple of days ago.
A high surf warning means that coastal residents need to make preparations to protect life and property from large waves that could result in coastal flooding.
The rest of today's surf forecast for O'ahu:
The North Shore will see surf 15 to 20 feet late this morning before it builds to to 30 to 35 feet late in the afternoon.
Surf along west shores will be 10 to 15 feet late in the morning and build to 18 to 24 feet late in the afternoon.
Surf along south shores will be 1 to 3 feet, and surf along east shores will be 2 to 4 feet.
Increasing northerly winds will create very rough conditions today off all shores.
The northwest swell will peak early this morning and slowly decline.
Another large northwest swell is expected on Monday night and Tuesday.
Surf heights are forecast heights of the face or front of waves. The surf forecast is based on the significant wave height in the zone of maximum refraction. Some waves may be more than twice as high as the significant wave height. Expect to encounter rip currents in or near any surf zone.
