Kai Lenny stands tall in a Jaws giant during the 2017 Pe’ahi Challenge. Photo: Lynton/WSL
Jaws and Waimea Bay are about to wake up, big time (not to mention Pipe). The National Weather Service in Hawaii is calling for “giant waves” that will approach 45 feet at exposed northern shorelines today and into Wednesday.
“The warning threshold for north shores is 25 feet from trough to crest, 12 feet for west shores of Hawaii island, and 20 feet for west shores of the remaining islands,” according to the NWS. That means Pipeline could see 20-25-foot faces on the outer reef while Maui (and Jaws) could see surf from the 30-50-foot range.
California, and Mavericks, is likely to get a significant, albeit smaller, hit Thursday with clean conditions and long-period swell.
According to the NWS, the swell in Hawaii will come with extremely high tides and could flood coastal roads on north-facing shores and cause havoc in harbors with the “jostling” of boats from swell and tide likely, which could cause significant damage.
