Buoy Readings and Surf Conditions
Determine when it's best to get in the water based on surf conditions for Hawaii from the Buoy data weather stations, tide prediction charts, as well as the Surf forecast from the National Weather center.
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Buoy 51001
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Buoy 51002
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Buoy 51004
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Buoy 510003
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Buoy 51201
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Tide Levels for Oahu
View Current tide level readers for Oahu
Latest Surf Report
This is the latest official surf report for Hawaii.
Expires:201007311900;;484177FZHW50 PHFO 310604
SRFHFO
SURF ZONE FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
700 PM HST FRI JUL 30 2010
HIZ005>011-311900-
OAHU-
700 PM HST FRI JUL 30 2010
SURF ALONG SOUTH FACING SHORES WILL BE 4 TO 7 FEET...WITH OCCASIONAL
HIGHER SETS...THROUGH SATURDAY.
SURF ALONG WEST FACING SHORES WILL BE 3 TO 5 FEET THROUGH SATURDAY.
SURF ALONG EAST FACING SHORES WILL BE RISING TO 4 TO 6 FEET ON
SATURDAY.
SURF ALONG NORTH FACING SHORES WILL REMAIN 2 FEET OR LESS THROUGH
SATURDAY.
OUTLOOK THROUGH THURSDAY AUG 5:
THE CURRENT SOUTH SWELL WILL GRADUALLY LOWER THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
A NEW SOUTH SWELL IS EXPECTED TO BUILD EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH SURF
APPROACHING ADVISORY LEVELS ON THE SOUTH FACING SHORES ON TUESDAY
AND WEDNESDAY. ROUGH SURF ALONG THE EAST FACING SHORES WILL SUBSIDE
NEXT WEEK AS THE TRADE WINDS WEAKEN.
SURF HEIGHTS ARE FORECAST HEIGHTS OF THE FACE OR FRONT OF WAVES. THE
SURF FORECAST IS BASED ON THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT...THE AVERAGE
HEIGHT OF THE ONE THIRD LARGEST WAVES...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.
&&
COLLABORATIVE NEARSHORE SWELL AND WIND FORECAST FOR OAHU
NWS/NCDDC HONOLULU HI
300 PM HST FRI JUL 30 2010
THIS COLLABORATIVE FORECAST WILL BE UPDATED MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AT
300 PM WHEN PAT CALDWELL IS AVAILABLE. WHEN PAT CALDWELL IS NOT
AVAILABLE...THE LATEST COLLABORATIVE FORECAST WILL REMAIN POSTED FOR
4 DAYS.
FORECAST SWL DMNT DMNT H H HGT WIND WIND SPD
DATE HGT DIR PD 1/3 1/10 TEND PROB SPD DIR TEND
1 PM 6 E 7 2 4 UP 17-21 E UP
07/30 4 S 17 6 10 SAME
SAT 7 E 8 4 6 UP MED 17-21 E SAME
07/31 4 S 14 6 8 DOWN MED
SUN 7 ENE 8 4 6 SAME MED 13-16 ENE DOWN
08/01 2 S 13 3 5 DOWN LOW
MON 7 ENE 8 4 6 SAME MED 13-19 ENE SAME
08/02 2 SW 18 3 5 UP LOW
TUE 7 ENE 8 4 6 SAME MED 13-19 ENE SAME
08/03 2 SW 16 2 4 DOWN LOW
4 SSW 18 8 10 UP LOW
WED 7 ENE 8 4 6 SAME LOW 13-19 ENE SAME
08/04 4 SSW 18 8 10 SAME LOW
LEGEND:
SWL HGT OPEN OCEAN SWELL HEIGHT MEASURED FROM TROUGH TO CREST
IN FEET LOCATED 20 NAUTICAL MILES OFFSHORE
DMNT DIR DOMINANT DIRECTION TYPICALLY +/-10 DEGREES IN 16 COMPASS
POINTS
DMNT PD DOMINANT PERIOD IN SECONDS
H1/3 SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT IN THE SURF ZONE
H1/10 AVERAGE HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST ONE-TENTH WAVES IN THE SURF
ZONE
HGT TEND HEIGHT TENDENCY OF SWELL (VALID VALUES: UP/DOWN/SAME)
PROB PROBABILITY OF OCCURRENCE (VALID VALUES: HIGH/MED/LOW)
WIND SPD OPEN WATER WIND SPEED MEASURED IN KNOTS LOCATED
20 NAUTICAL MILES OFFSHORE
WIND DIR WIND DIRECTION IN 16 COMPASS POINTS
SPD TEND WIND SPEED TENDENCY (VALID VALUES: UP/DOWN/SAME)
SURF HEIGHTS WILL VARY BETWEEN DIFFERENT BEACHES AND AT THE SAME
BEACH AT DIFFERENT BREAK AREAS.
DISCUSSION:
SUMMARY...
ACTIVE MID SUMMER PATTERN.
DETAILED...
MID FRIDAY ON EASTERN SHORES HAS SMALL BREAKERS UNDER STRENGTHENING
TRADES FROM 70-90 DEGREES. ROUGH SURF IS EXPECTED TO BUILD FRIDAY
INTO SATURDAY.
HIGH PRESSURE IS INCREASING OVER AND NORTH OF THE ISLANDS ON FRIDAY
WITH A FAIRLY STATIONARY PATTERN EXPECTED TO HOLD THIS PERIOD. SEE
THE LATEST NWS STATE WEATHER FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR MORE DETAILS.
LOCAL AND UPSTREAM TO THE EAST TO NORTHEAST BEYOND 1000 NM HAS
MODERATE TO FRESH BREEZES. ON FRIDAY AND LIKELY INTO
SATURDAY...WINDS AND WINDSWELL HAVE MORE EASTERLY COMPONENT.
UPSTREAM AND LOCALLY...WINDS AND WINDSWELL ARE EXPECTED TO BACK MORE
TO 50-80 DEGREES FOR SUNDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. ROUGH...MODERATE
BREAKERS SHOULD BE THE RULE THROUGH THE PERIOD.
MID FRIDAY ON SOUTHERN SHORES HAS LONG-PERIOD SWELL OF 15-18 SECONDS
FROM 180-195 DEGREES. BREAKER HEIGHTS ARE MODERATE TO NEAR HIGH FOR
THE MORE FREQUENT...LOWER SETS THAT ARRIVE EVERY FEW MINUTES...OR
H1/3 AS DEFINED ABOVE...THE THRESHOLD FOR NWS ADVISORIES. THE LESS
FREQUENT...HIGHER GROUPS OF WAVES THAT ARRIVE ON THE ORDER OF EVERY
TEN MINUTES...OR H1/10...ARE WELL INTO HIGH SURF LEVELS ON FRIDAY. A
SLOW DROP IS ANTICIPATED FOR SATURDAY.
THIS EPISODE WAS GENERATED BY STORM-FORCE WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH AN
EXTRATROPICAL LOW PRESSURE THAT TRACKED NE FROM NEAR THE ANTARCTIC
ICE SHEET WELL SE OF NEW ZEALAND ON THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE HAWAII
SWELL WINDOW LAST WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY. SINCE THE FETCH WAS
WIDE...WITH A HUGE AREA OF SEAS OVER 30 FEET...LESS HEIGHT LOSS WITH
TRAVEL DISTANCE OCCURRED.
BUOY 51002 AND 51003 SHOW SIGNIFICANT ENERGY IN THE 15-17 SECOND
BAND ON FRIDAY MORNING. THE 17 SECOND ENERGY IS TRENDING DOWN. THE
DOMINANT WAVE PERIOD SHOULD SLOWLY SHIFT DOWNWARD OVER THE NEXT 36
HOURS. SINCE LONGER WAVES TRAVEL FASTER...THE SWELLS LEAVING THE
SOURCE ZONE GET SPREAD OVER A MASSIVE REGION DURING THE 4000 NM
TRAVEL TO HAWAII. THIS DISPERSION OF THE ENERGY MEANS SLOW CHANGE IN
SURF LOCALLY. THUS...WITH THIS PRINCIPLE IN MIND...SURF SHOULD BE
ONLY A NOTCH SMALLER ON SATURDAY FOR THE H1/10...OR SET WAVES. THE
DIRECTION SHOULD REMAIN THE SAME. ON SUNDAY...HEIGHTS SHOULD FAVOR
THE SMALL BRACKET WITH STEADILY LESS FREQUENT MODERATE SETS.
THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE ROARING 40S...OR MORE SPECIFICALLY LATITUDE
BANDS BETWEEN 35 TO 70S...ENTERED AN ACTIVE AUSTRAL WINTER MODEL
LAST WEEK AND HELD INTO THIS WEEK FROM TASMANIA TO S OF FRENCH
POLYNESIA. SEAS TO 40 FEET WERE ESTIMATED BY MODELS SE OF TASMANIA
LAST WEEKEND. MOST OF THIS ENERGY IS SHADOWED BY SW OCEANIA FOR
HAWAII...THOUGH LOW...LONG PERIOD SWELL COULD SNEAK THROUGH KEEPING
SIMILAR BREAKER HEIGHTS LOCALLY ON MONDAY FROM 200-220
DEGREES...HOLDING INTO TUESDAY.
THE EXTRATROPICAL CYCLONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE TASMAN SOURCE TRACKED
EASTWARD...PASSING S TO SE OF NEW ZEALAND LAST MONDAY INTO TUESDAY.
THE CENTRAL PRESSURE DROPPED TO 948 MB NEAR THE ANTARCTICE ICE
SHEET. SEAS GREW TO OVER 30 FEET IN THE 185-200 DEGREE BAND AIMED AT
HAWAII. THE TRACK OF THE SYSTEM TOOK A FAVORABLE NORTHWARD JOG LAST
TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY...INCREASING THE APPARENT FETCH FOR HAWAII.
THE SYSTEM MOVED EAST OF THE HAWAII SWELL WINDOW ON THURSDAY.
OUTPUT FROM THE WAVE WATCH III MODEL FOR THE BUOY 51002 LOCATION
ONLY INDICATES MODERATE SURF LOCALLY. HOWEVER...OUTPUT FROM 51004
SHOWS MUCH HIGHER SWELL...SUGGESTING A CLOSE CALL. THIS FORECAST IS
LEANING TOWARD SAFETY GIVING HIGHER READINGS FOR OAHU THAN THE WAVE
MODELS.
LONG PERIOD SWELL IS EXPECTED TO SLOWLY BUILD ON TUESDAY FROM
190-200 DEGREES. THE EPISODE SHOULD PEAK AROUND SUNDOWN ON WEDNESDAY
FROM 185-200 DEGREES.
INTO THE LONG RANGE...AS WITH MOST SOUTH SWELLS...THE HEIGHTS SHOULD
CHANGE SLOWLY...WITH ABOVE SUMMER AVERAGE SURF LASTING INTO FRIDAY
FROM 180-200 DEGREES. CHARTS ON FRIDAY...JULY 30...SHOW HIGH
PRESSURE TAKING OVER THE PRIMARY SOURCE REGION NEAR NEW
ZEALAND...LASTING SEVERAL DAYS. THIS SHOULD MEAN BELOW AVERAGE SURF
LOCALLY FROM NEXT WEEKEND OUT ABOUT A WEEK.
TRADES SHOULD REMAIN WITHIN THE MODERATE TO FRESH BRACKET NEXT WEEK
WITH MODERATE WINDSWELL FROM 50-90 DEGREES.
LONG RANGE FORECASTS ARE SUBJECT TO HIGH UNCERTAINTY.
THIS COLLABORATIVE FORECAST WILL RESUME ON MONDAY...AUGUST 2.
THIS FORECAST WAS PRODUCED THROUGH THE COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS OF
NWS AND NCDDC. PLEASE SEND SUGGESTIONS TO W-HFO.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV
OR CALL THE WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST AT 808-973-5275.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
SEE /IN LOWERCASE/ HTTP://WWW.PRH.NOAA.GOV/HNL/PAGES/MARINE.PHP
$$