Hawaii North Shore forecast by Craig Brokensha (issued Thursday 24th March)

Best Days: Sunday, Tuesday onwards for experienced surfers

This week and next (Mar 25 – Apr 1)

After a strong mix of N'ly and NW groundswells Sunday, good fun and more manageable surf was seen into Monday, fading back to the small range Tuesday and then bottoming out today.

Over the coming Easter period there's nothing significant on the cards with a slight up tick in background N/NW swell Friday afternoon, fading Saturday ahead of a slightly better long-range NW groundswell for Sunday.

Only inconsistent 4-5ft sets are due across swell magnets with early offshores and N/NE sea breezes.

Of greater significance is the formation of a significant low pressure system south-east of the Kamchatka Peninsula during this weekend, stalling while aiming a broad fetch of severe-gale to storm-force W/NW winds through our swell window. The low is then forecast to project south-east towards us while continuing to generate severe-gale NW winds, generating an XXL swell for later Tuesday but more so Wednesday.

The long-period forerunners should arrive through Tuesday morning, with a strong and large kick in size into the afternoon and evening, reaching 15ft+ by dark ahead of a peak in size Wednesday morning to 20-25ft across the North Shore.

Winds on Tuesday are a little unfavourable with an increasing W/NW breeze as the front nears the islands, with more variable winds Wednesday as the front retracts.

Variable winds should continue Thursday as the swell drops back from the 15ft range, with a possible large reinforcing NW groundswell for Friday from a final tight but strong embedded low pushing down close to us. This swell looks to be around the 10ft+ range with E/NE trades.

Longer term there's nothing too significant on the cards at all and that may be the last XXL swell for the season.

North Shore Forecast Graph
North Shore WAMs