The Jaws Challenge is expected to run on Monday, November 26 and/or Tuesday, November 27. Image: WSL
There is a very large swell pointed at the Hawaiian Islands right now. As of Friday, it looked good enough for the Big Wave Tour to hit the yellow light on the most entertaining event of all: the Jaws Challenge.
The Big Wave Tour can be a finicky one. Swells big enough to run the events are few and far between, depending on a variety of factors, all of which are somewhat intertwined. Depending on global storm activity to run events makes things difficult, but so far this year, the BWT is looking like it’s off to a good start. After the huge success of the Nazare Challenge, a yellow light for Jaws within just a few weeks is a good sign. If it runs, Jaws will be the second event of the BWT season. It’s expected to start on Monday, November 26 and/or Tuesday, November 27, with waves projected to be in excess of 35 feet.
“We are coming off of a great event at Nazaré and have a promising swell heading toward Pe’ahi for the Jaws Challenge,” said Mike Parsons, WSL Big Wave Tour Commissioner. “We have issued a Yellow Alert for a potential run on Monday, November 26 or Tuesday, November 27. The waves are forecast in the 30-to-45-foot face range, so we will continue to monitor and hopefully issue a Green Alert tomorrow.”
Once a yellow light is issued, the WSL team watches the forecast carefully as time goes on. If things still look good 48 hours prior, a green light is issued and the best big wave surfers in the world book their tickets. The Surfline forecast is promising, to say the least:
Confidence is high that the largest swell of the season- to date- will build into the Hawaiian Islands on Monday, thanks to a developing storm in the northwest Pacific. This storm is expected to produce near hurricane force wind and seas in excess of 40 feet around 1500-2000 miles from Hawaii. The resulting long period NW swell will build all day on Monday and peak in the afternoon and evening hours with 30-50′ faces. Moderate to breezy E trades will make conditions challenging Monday afternoon, but there should be some epic waves and the west bowl should offer some crazy barrels thanks to the swell direction. Tuesday is expected to trend down and be more user friendly, but still be solid, with 25-40′ faces in the morning and lighter E trades.
