Forecast for Big Island Windward and Southeast

Forecast for Big Island Leeward

Surf along north facing shores will begin to gradually ease tonight into the first half of the week. An upward trend is expected during the second half of the week as a new northwest swell arrives. This may be followed by a larger northwest swell Friday/Saturday, with surf heights nearing the advisory levels for exposed north and west facing shores.

Surf along south facing shores will remain somewhat inconsistent as a southwest swell peaks this evening/tonight. This will be followed by a gradual downward trend by Monday. Another small south-southwest pulse may arrive next weekend from activity within our swell window east of New Zealand.

Surf along east facing shores will remain relatively small and choppy, though a brief strengthening of the trade winds tomorrow could lead to a small bump in surf.

NORTH EAST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Semi choppy with ESE winds 5-10mph in the morning increasing to 10-15mph in the afternoon.

NORTH WEST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Clean in the morning with ESE winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting W 5-10mph.

WEST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Light sideshore texture in the morning with NNW winds 5-10mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting to the WNW.

SOUTH EAST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Sideshore texture/chop with NE winds 10-15mph.

Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov and SwellInfo.com

Residents interested in learning more about coastal zoning on Hawaii Island have a new tool at their fingertips.

The Hawaii County Planning Department recently launched an interactive Coastal Zone Management Atlas website.

In addition to providing an overview of different coastal ecosystems in the county, the site allows users to search an address and select various filters to view potential coastal hazards and regulations specific to that site, among other features.

“It really allows people to zoom in on their community or property, if they’re a property owner, and understand all of the very technical pieces that there are to consider about our coastal zone,” said Bethany Morrison, the planning program manager for the Long-Range Panning Division at the county.

She said her office often gets questions from residents about Hawaii’s Special Management Area, which covers the land along the coast of the island and has specific regulations and requirements for development permits.

“So, this will give them a much deeper dive into what is the Special Management Area? What are those permit requirements? Is my property even in the Special Management Area?” She said. “All of those questions that we get, we’re trying to provide some resources for them.”

The tool was developed with the assistance of Tetra Tech and funded with an award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and used data provided by the University of Hawaii at Hilo to create the mapping component. It took about six months and $26,267 to create. Morrison said it is part of a larger, ongoing project to re-evaluate the county’s shoreline setback policies.

“We are the only county that doesn’t have any type of erosion rate-based setbacks,” she said. “Our current shoreline setback is 40 feet, kind of regardless of what type of shoreline you’re on, what type of hazards there are – it’s just a standard sort of distance.”

Which she said does not account for other factors that could be important.

“In some cases, 40 feet is plenty, and in some cases, it’s not, depending on where you are and what’s happening, so we initiated this project to really understand what changes are happening along our shoreline, and if there’s a way to include those changes in the calculation of our setbacks,” she said.

She said she views the atlas as a valuable precursor to any changes to the setback requirements that might be introduced.

“Before we get to that, we want people to have a really good understanding of what’s happening along our coastline and be able to explore things for themselves before we try and introduce any type of changes to our regulations,” she said. “So, that’s a big purpose, is to just get this out there, being used, having people understand what those pieces are — hazards, ecosystems that we want to protect — all those kinds of details.”

She said the site will be updated as new data becomes available.

The county hosted a webinar earlier this month to introduce the new tool and answer questions.

Another one is scheduled for May 7 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Anyone interested can register at: tinyurl.com/2pxat5n8.

The Coastal Zone Management Atlas can be viewed at: tinyurl.com/mstvyjyp.

Email Grace Inez Adams at grace.adams@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

Forecast for Big Island Windward and Southeast

Forecast for Big Island Leeward

A medium-period northwest swell peaks tonight into Sunday, producing small to moderate surf for north and west-facing shores, before gradually declining through early next week. A hurricane-force low tracking across the Aleutian Islands tonight should send a moderate northwest swell towards Hawaii around the middle of next week.

Short-period northeasterly energy is beginning to decrease this afternoon, which will keep below average surf along eastern exposures for the first half of next week due to the lack of any strong trade wind activity. Locally strong trade winds could return during the latter half of next week, which could bring rough and choppy surf with near normal wave heights.

Small background energy from the west will continue to linger through today and fade out on Sunday. A small southwest bump from the Tasman Sea is expected to slowly fill in tonight and peak on Sunday. No significant south swell is expected through the first half of next week. A fetch of gales passing east of New Zealand today could produce a small south-southwest swell for next weekend.

NORTH EAST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Semi choppy with ESE winds 5-10mph in the morning increasing to 10-15mph in the afternoon.

NORTH WEST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Clean in the morning with ESE winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting W 5-10mph.

WEST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Light sideshore texture in the morning with NNW winds 5-10mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting to the WNW.

SOUTH EAST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Sideshore texture/chop with NE winds 10-15mph.

Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov and SwellInfo.com