Surfers lose online Surfers, fishermen and beach-goers will no longer find surf forecasts on a popular Web page produced by oceanographer Patrick Caldwell, Hawaii liaison for the National Coastal Data Development Center.
resource for accessing
wave forecast
By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.comThe center removed the surf data Wednesday because of safety concerns by the National Weather Service, a sister agency in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Caldwell had no comment. He works at the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, operated by NOAA and the University of Hawaii.
At issue is the method of reporting surf heights -- from the face or front of the waves or from the back of the waves.
Caldwell presented both surf values on his Web site.
Surfers in Hawaii traditionally have reported surf heights from the back of waves. For the past year and a half, however, the weather service has tried to standardize high-surf advisories and warnings by basing all observations on the face of the waves.
Listing heights on the Web page from the back of the waves created conflicting information, said Jim Weyman, director of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center and meteorologist-in-charge of the Honolulu Forecast Office.
"We requested that his supervisor take a look at it; we expressed concerns based on public safety."
Measuring surf from the back underestimates the size of the waves, and true heights may be double what ocean-goers expect, weather service officials said when the new criteria were adopted.
The criteria were based on data collected by Rick Grigg, University of Hawaii oceanographer and member of the Governor's Beach and Water Safety Task Force.
"The real problem is, when it's 8 feet, they call it 3 to 4, and that's when people get their necks broken," said Grigg, a veteran surfer.
Grigg said estimating the wave from the back began in the 1950s. He believes it was an attempt by surfers to control the crowds. "They started slowly underestimating so a 10-foot wave was only 5 feet. ... This became culturally popular, an accepted way to measure the wave."
But it is a serious water safety problem, and it became "progressively confusing" to see tables on Caldwell's Web site for both face and local values, Grigg said.
He said Caldwell did an "absolutely brilliant" job of his Web page, with a synopsis describing the formation, location and evolution of storms in the northern and southern Pacific for seven to 10 days.
Surf values and winds were included, enabling fishermen to plan their whole workweek, he said.
Grigg said he would like to see the surf data back on the Web page. "If it's consistent with the weather service, it will be a win-win for everyone."
Russ Beard, Caldwell's supervisor at the NOAA National Environmental Satellite Service in Mississippi, said he has received more than 100 e-mails from Hawaii residents expressing concerns about elimination of the surf tables.
"There seems to be a perception by the public that there is conflict between the NESS and the NWS," he said. "That is not true. ... What we're trying to do is have Pat work with weather to come up with a proper venue for the forecast. It could be a commercial or private Web site."
Jim Howe, operations chief for the city Ocean Safety Division, said his division began using data from offshore buoys in Kailua and Waimea Bay about a year ago.
He said imina.soest.hawaii .edu/~buoy "gives us actual data, not somebody's interpretation. You take five people from anywhere, and you'll get five different interpretations."
Edward Teixeira, state civil defense vice director, said, "We fully support having one voice, one source, and that particular source is the National Weather Service for us."
Bruce Bryant, Kahala Mall Town & Country Surf Shop manager, who does all forms of surfing, said Caldwell's Web site was pretty good because he put on surf forecasts three to five days ahead.
"You could plan your days off as to what side of the island you might try to surf. ... It was generally pretty accurate, as accurate as surf forecasts can be."
Bryant said he thought it was a good idea to put both local and face values in surf tables. Surfers like the "traditional way" because "we grew up with it," he said.
Star-Bulletin reporter Genevieve Suzuki contributed to this report.
