Strong tradewinds and unfavourable northerly swells have resulted in a few lay days for the Billabong Pipe Masters, but fret not, we've got better days to come as the trades slowly weaken and a series of long-period groundswells fill in.

Tomorrow will be a low point in swell, likely resulting in another lay day, but come Wednesday a moderate-sized long-period NW groundswell is due to fill in.

The swell will be inconsistent due to being generated by a storm near the distant the Kamchatka Peninsula and Aleutian Islands.

A building trend is expected all day, with sets reaching 6ft+ by dark Wednesday with gusty E/NE trades, easing back quickly to 4-6ft Thursday morning. This will provide good enough waves to get the trials out of the way.

Friday and Saturday look generally small with a mid-period NW swell offering surf to 3-5ft at its peak Friday, fading Saturday.

Later in the waiting period we've got back to back storms forecast to develop in Hawaii's swell window. The first storm will form south-east of the Kamchatka Peninsula with a burst of severe-gale westerly winds through the north-western swell window. The low will then broaden and strengthen north of the islands, producing an additional northerly component to the swell.

The swell should fill in on Sunday and provide 6-8ft+ sets across Pipe with weak E/SE trades and clean conditions, possibly slightly bumpy into the afternoon.

A secondary and stronger low is due to develop on the back of the initial storm, projecting a fetch of severe-gale to storm-force north-west winds through Hawaii's northern swell window, producing a large northerly groundswell for Tuesday that looks to come in around 10ft+ on the sets. Winds may become an issue though, tending back to the north-northeast, though we'll continue to watch developments closely.

North Shore 16 Day Forecast Graph
North Shore WAMs