XL Winter Swell Hammers Hawaii With Even Bigger Surf Than Forecast
Footage from Hawaii is still incoming, but early reports from Oahu and Maui are that the northwest swell that filled in on the afternoon of Thanksgiving came in hot and heavy and was considerably bigger than forecasts indicated—which says a lot as the surf was predicted to top 20 feet. While most spots on the North Shore of Oahu were washed out, Waimea Bay saw some closeout sets with the size being compared to last January’s swell when the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational was held. There were also notable sessions at some of Oahu’s outer reefs, as well as at Pe’ahi over on Maui. Again, details are still inbound, but what’s floating around out there on social media right now shows just how serious the surf in Hawaii was today.
“Every swell has its own personality,” shared North Shore lifeguard and big-wave surfer Dave Wassel on Instagram. “Where last year’s Eddie swell had a longer interval, meaning it went deeper into the water column making waves barrel way offshore, today’s episode is a closer interval, coinciding with a full moon high tide. The result, waves doubling up and riding up on each other. Definitely bigger than expected.”
The forecast team at Surfline crunch the numbers and deduced that the swell was close, but not quite the same size as last January’s monster.
“Our take: Not quite but close,” reported Surfline. “Very different swells. Eddie swell was a little shorter in interval and held at 20’+ for longer. This swell peaked overnight with longer interval but didn’t stay at 20’ for long. Swell from the Eddie was also much more favorable for size at Waimea with the storm being significantly closer.”
However one slices and dices it, this was a serious swell event in Hawaii and we’re still three weeks from the official first day of winter. So far El Niño has made things really interesting this big-wave season, and it feels like it’s just going to keep on rolling. This swell is now headed to California, where it will hopefully light up Maverick’s and Todos Santos.
