Surf along north facing shores will continue to see High Surf Advisory level conditions through Monday with the swell peaking tonight before slowly dropping Monday. Big Island Now reported that offshore National Data Buoy Center buoy 51101 continues to detect long-period energy moving through the 14- to 16-second bands, maintaining hazardous conditions along coastal zones.
North and East Shores Face Rising Surf
The active marine conditions vary significantly by exposure across the island. North-facing shores are seeing surf heights between 6 and 8 feet this afternoon, building to 7 to 10 feet tonight and Monday. East-facing shores are experiencing 4- to 6-foot surf this afternoon, climbing to 5 to 7 feet tonight and Monday as trade wind swells increase with strong northeast winds filling in at 10 to 15 mph. Meanwhile, south-facing shores currently hold 4-to-6-foot surf that will remain elevated this evening before declining on Monday, leaving southern waters tiny through much of the week with minimal background energy.
Leeward shores face distinct patterns, with west- and south-facing zones recording 4-to-6-foot surf this afternoon and evening, dropping to 3 to 5 feet by Monday. Weather conditions tonight across windward and southeast areas bring mostly cloudy skies, likely showers, and lows in the lower 70s with north winds near 10 mph. Leeward areas remain mostly sunny until 6 p.m. before turning mostly cloudy with scattered showers and south winds shifting east around 5 mph.
Tidal Movements Shift Along Island Bays
Tidal movements along Hilo Bay include a low of 0.7 feet at 4:57 PM HST, a high of 1.1 feet at 9:41 PM HST tonight, and a subsequent low of 0.6 feet at 2:42 AM HST. Kona and Kawaihae tides show evening lows and highs rounding out the night, ahead of Monday highs reaching 1.9 feet at Kona and 2.1 feet at Kawaihae by late morning.
Looking ahead, another advisory-level northwest swell could arrive Thursday into Friday, carrying moderate to large surf action into the weekend. Data courtesy of NOAA.gov and SwellInfo.com indicates that east-facing shores will stay choppy as trade winds persist throughout the week.
