Big surf may threaten homes, roads
Morning waves as high as 30 feet might hit the North Shore, Civil Defense warns
Civil Defense officials last night warned North Shore residents about a building west-northwest swell that could threaten homes and roads with wave faces as high as 30 feet early today.
The swell comes from a storm that developed near Japan about a week ago. It was expected to peak late last night or early this morning with surf above advisory levels, said Sam Houston, lead forecaster at the National Weather Service's Honolulu office.
Because of its west angle, the swell also could send 20-foot waves toward the Leeward coast of Oahu and Molokai. A high surf warning posted yesterday for those areas lasts until at least 6 a.m. tomorrow.
"We should be below warning levels by Wednesday morning," Houston said about waves on north-facing shores from Kauai to Maui. "But it could be still in the 15-foot-plus-face range."
Surf in the 6- to 10-foot range was already crashing at Ehukai Beach yesterday afternoon, with occasional sets reaching 12 feet. The waves should slowly drop beginning Thursday morning before a smaller north swell hits the island Saturday night.
"It will be typical background swell up there Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the daytime," Houston said. "Mere mortals can go out."
John Cummings III, spokesman for Oahu Civil Defense, said volunteers on the west and north coasts were being told to get ready to set up traffic controls and other measures in case the surf washed across roads and houses overnight or at dawn today.
"We are on a standby basis right now," he said yesterday.
The weather service also issued a wind advisory for Haleakala and Big Island summits, where gusts of about 50 mph were expected yesterday.
A combination of a high-pressure system north of the state with a low-pressure system south of the islands is creating the winds, which gain speed as they hit the cone-shaped edges of mountains.
Motorists were being urged to drive slowly until at least 6 a.m. today, when winds are expected to return to advisory levels of 30 mph or lower, Houston said.