The elements are reminding Hawaii residents who’s in charge this week.
An enormous long-period northwest swell filling in
today originally meant the Eddie would go; 18-mph cross-face winds said it wouldn’t. Sad news for Oahu residents, who awoke to a haze in the air.
The National Weather Service maintained its high-surf warnings today, anticipating 30- to 50-foot faces for the North Shore and 20- to 35-foot faces for western shores.
NWS forecaster Tom Birchard does not anticipate the surf will damage properties, but water might reach low-lying areas often affected: Laniakea, Rockpiles, Lahilahi Point in Makaha. “We might see some sand and debris come up on the roadway,” Birchard said.
Since the bigger high tide, 1.44 feet, hit Haleiwa around 5:42 a.m. Tuesday, it wasn’t coinciding with the peak of the swell. Since the peak will hit around the lower tide — the rest of the day lingers between a 0.1-and 0.58-foot tide — the swell will likely be less damaging to the land, according to Birchard.
The next big high tide, 1.30 feet, is anticipated around 6:12 a.m. Thursday, when the swell will keep its size and long period.
As for that haze, the same wind that canceled the Eddie might just help flush out what could be vog.
Birchard said he wasn’t certain, but southeasterly wind could have brought vog over to Oahu from the erupting Halemaumau Crater. Air quality sensors on Oahu, Kauai and the leeward side of the Big Island show increased levels of some particulates, he said. The windward side of the Big Island, upwind from the volcano, shows clearer air on sensors.
“There’s a decent chance it is vog,” Birchard said.
But as the wind starts to come up overnight from the northwest early this morning, those particulates will likely blow away, he said.
IQAir, an air-quality monitoring website, shows a plume of particulates traveling west from the Hawaiian Islands, where it originates near the erupting volcano, for more than a thousand miles.
To the north, rapid winds spiral counterclockwise, portending swells to come.
