The past few months around the Pacific have been a bit slow, to say the very least. Sure, there’s been a few great moments, but when compared to the start of summer and that brilliant winter brought by El Niño, things have been pretty terrible around Southern California and Hawaii. But that all may soon change, as there appears to be some relief on the horizon.
Over the past few days, forecasters have been tracking a pair of westward-spinning hurricanes that are currently looking favorable to bring surf to the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.
According to the National Weather Service, Madeline, centered 695 miles east of Hilo and 890 miles east-southeast of Honolulu, strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane and is packing maximum sustained winds of 100 mph. Forecasters expect Madeline to continue to strengthen today and Tuesday until slightly weakening Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in the East Pacific, Hurricane Lester, centered 1,290 miles west of Baja California, also strengthened slightly, with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph.
So what does this all mean in terms of surf?
According to Surfline, Lester will bring a fun-sized southerly tropical swell on Monday before fading through the mid week. Madeline, on the other hand, will not bring much swell to California, but she’s looking to produce strong east swell for Hawaii.
Although Lester and Madeline aren’t the strongest of systems, they are something. Plus, we should be taking anything we can get at this point. So wax ’em up, folks! It’s surfin’ time!