What's up with Maui?

dabull1 · Joined: 19 Mar 1997 Posts: 556

With T-Minus one month and counting to departure I've been following the dismal wind conditions in Maui with great anxiety. OK, you amateur weather wizards, let's have your prognostication as to whether this will be a SUP or a windsurfing vacation. If things don't improve soon, we'll be hunting down virgins for sacrifice! Aloha[?] Bull

rlemmens · Joined: 09 Feb 2008 Posts: 206

Hey, I've been here for two weeks and sailed the first 3 days i was here, and that's it. Two days were marginal and one was good. It has to do with a high pressure system that 500 nm away. You can look it up on noaa. Apparently the first one has gone away but it's been replaced by a bigger system. In effect it is deflecting the normal east trade winds from going over the islands. If you plan ahead going to maui or anywhere in the world to windsurf is a gamble. You look at the average wind for a month at a place and bet on that. As windsurfers we've all gotten skunked as well. It can happen at home or on vacation, you hope it doesn't but it's always a possibility. Just so you know, Maui has become noticeably more expensive. If you don't plan on cooking or eating pizza every night expect to pay about $70+ for dinner (places like milagros for example) for two unless you know where to go (there's obviously the fish market but colleens, in Haiku, also offers very good food for a reasonable price). Also, if you are a surfer and want to bring a board ship it with fed-ex and save yourself some money, since they charge 175 each way for a surfboard at united. If the wind doesnt show there are plenty of other things to do as well. You're on vacation in maui, just relax hope for the best and make the best out of what you get.

mgmitch · Joined: 24 Jun 1997 Posts: 5

Just got back from two weeks in Maui/Oahu and didnt get one single day of sailing in. Kind of a bummer but you know what? It's all good cause theres other things to do. For example, I went and took a 3 day scuba cert course that was great fun. Awesome hikes into Halakala (skip the sunrise--waaay overrated). Body surfing at Big Beach on Maui is fun too or nude body surfing next door (ouch). Of course surfing or the newly popular SUP-- looks kind of weird when a bunch of people are just standing around waiting for waves though. If you dont know how and there are marginal winds for windsurfing, take a kiting lesson maybe. Of course we'd rather have wind every day like it normally seems to be in Maui all summer but if you go during the shoulder season looking for waves and wind, you can get skunked.

Aloha

BTW Bull, if you still got one month to go, you should be just fine!! I'm certain things will normalize by then. I've been to Maui over 60 times in the past 10 years and June July are pretty much a no-miss.

jeff_bennett64 · Joined: 13 Jul 2000 Posts: 74 Location: Maui

From Friday's National Weather Service Hawaiian Surf Forecast:

"The jet stream has repetitively kept a trough or a eddy just north of Hawaii in recent weeks, keeping above average number of days of small to moderate surf and below average number of days of moderate or stronger trades for late spring. More of the same is expected into the long range...
...models keep a trough in the jet stream at a lower latitude than normal for late May into early June, suggesting more short-period, small to moderate episodes [of surf] a few days off and on from mostly NNW to NNE into the first week of June. Such a pattern would keep the number of days of moderate or stronger trades below normal, that is, most days having dominant land and sea breezes."

Doesn't look like we'll be windsurfing any time soon here.

Sad

MalibuGuru · Joined: 11 Nov 1993 Posts: 9300

Bull, every spring or summer when we get ants in the kitchen, the weather takes a major turn. Usually alot of wind or heat within 10 days. It's worked like clockwork for 20+ years. This also means Maui will get windy within 2 weeks. I'll buy you a mai tai at mamas if you get skunked!

The ants are never wrong.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Wow, man.
What do you rig for cockroaches?
Iguanas?

Mike \m/

dabull1 · Joined: 19 Mar 1997 Posts: 556

beallmd · Joined: 10 May 1998 Posts: 1154

Yes, I would eat roaches for good wind. Maui started acting up last summer and continues-La nina effect or global cooling with decreased sunspot activity? Who knows. There is pesky low that has setup just above Maui that was around last summer-sort of like the eddy that Godsey talks about off of SFO.

beallmd · Joined: 10 May 1998 Posts: 1154

If you really want to know what's up look at the Pacific map; The high is in a fairly typical location but it is weak at 1027, look at the wind marks around the high; they only show 10 MPH winds-so a very weak high-that should improve as a more usual summer pattern evolves. Then you see a red line just above Maui-that is the pesky low-some times they put the red L there-it's weak, but is enough to kill the very light trades from the North Pacific high. BTW the address is; http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/graphics/npac.gif

dperzinski · Joined: 04 Aug 2001 Posts: 156

Yes, yes, I've been here a week now and will leave soon with no wind. On the other hand, I got to seriously reconnect with the wife and had a lot of fun doing all the tourist stuff. The Ulalena show in Lahaina was great. I agree with mgmitch, the sunrise at Haleakala is overrated, too crowded. Took surfing lessons in Kihei, that's great fun; rented a soft-top long board, going out again today. It's actually been a great trip.