The First Big Waves of Winter are Here!

     The first big waves of the winter season have arrived in Hawaii as an early Christmas present for locals and tourists alike. Huge 40 foot waves with the occasional 50 footer caused the red high surf flags to be flying along the north shores of Hawaii coasts. In fact the North Shore of Hawaii was closed to ensure the safety of folks who might like to try their skills against these huge waves.

     The storm system that produced the waves in Hawaii went on to cause a huge snow storm with high winds in the center of the continental United States. Although Hawaii just received the waves and no storms. So how are these huge waves formed and why aren’t there always huge waves in Hawaii?

     Waves are caused by the wind. The wave starts as a ripple from the wind blowing over the ocean. After the ripple forms, it actually gives the wind something to hold on to per se. The more the wind blows, the higher the wave gets as the wind transfers some of its energy to the water.  If the wind continues to blow it has more surface area of the growing wave to grab so the wave can get even bigger.

     There is a huge math explanation that could go here to tell you exactly how high the wave will be from the speed of the wind. However, you and I would both rather be out looking at the waves than trying to do the math to figure out all that stuff. Thank goodness the folks at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration do like to do the math and warn us of impending high waves!

     The wind and the waves go hand in hand. The wind is actually a form of solar energy as the wind is caused by the heating of the air or water by the sun. Again it is a complex situation that the folks at NOAA are great at watching for us. So as the sun heats the land mass, and the wind start to blow as a storm or front forms and heads out to sea, waves are formed.

     So your thinking at this point, whey doesn’t Hawaii always have big waves, there is always a storm somewhere? It has to do with the location of the storms and the fetch. Fetch is the term given to the amount of area the wind blows over. So if it is a wind of short duration, there might be big waves for a short period, but they will die out. However if the wind blows for a fair amount of time over a good distance there will be nice, big waves.

     That fetch is important for the Hawaiian Islands. It sits in the Pacific Ocean in relative isolation so there are no other islands or land structures around to impede the waves coming from storms that form in the North Pacific. And that is exactly what happened the second week of December. As the big storm formed in the North Pacific that hammered the Midwest with snow, the wind created huge waves that hit the north shores of the Hawaiian Islands.

     The winter time in Hawaii is the time that the waves that are shown in every Hawaiian surf picture are formed. For those of you old enough to remember the opening shot of Hawaii 5-0 series, who can forget that beautiful, huge, powerful wave from the North Shore? It is truly awesome to see the power that water has, when those incredible waves break on the shore. They are so awe inspiring. It makes you feel very small and tiny, which is true when you think about your size in comparison to a 50 foot wave.

     The biggest of these waves do not last very long. Usually they last a day or two at the most and then slowly get back to normal size over the course of a week. High surf advisories will stay up until the waves return to about normal size. If you happen to be in Hawaii when the huge waves, the really rare biggest of the big, waves come in, you really must go see them. This is not the time to learn to surf and practice your new found skill at the Pipeline. Due to the directionality of the waves, learning to surf is generally not a problem on the quiet south facing beaches in the wintertime.

     If you are a novice surfer, be honest about the assessment of your skills. These waves are not for everyone to surf in, but they are for everyone to look at and enjoy. It is a great time at the beach to watch the waves and to enjoy the few really good surfers who do surf these waves. It takes incredible skill, and they make it look so easy.