Small Craft Advisory 28, NWS Honolulu, HI

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Honolulu HI
957 AM HST Thu Jun 11 2020

.SYNOPSIS...
High pressure to our north and northeast will maintain breezy to
locally strong trades through early next week. Showers riding in
with the trades will favor the windward and mountain areas of all
islands, and a few of these showers will venture into the lee
areas of the smaller islands. Frequency of these showers will be
highest during the nights and mornings.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
A 1030 mb high north of the state will maintain strong trades
through Friday. Currently, we have a wind advisory in effect
through 6 pm today for the windier zones of Maui County and the
Big Island. With wind speeds expected to peak this afternoon and
linger into tonight, the wind advisory will likely need to be
extended later today. The high is expected to slowly drift
eastward and weaken over the next several days and that should
bring a slight downward trend in wind speeds Friday through the
weekend. But overall, breezy trades will likely persist into early
next week. It just won't be as strong as this afternoon and
this evening.

As far as precipitation, a stable atmosphere will continue to
limit shower activity with mainly light to moderate showers riding
in with the trades today. Starting Friday afternoon, a weak upper
level low will begin to approach the Big Island and could bring
increasing showers across the state, especially over the kona
slopes of the Big Island during the afternoons on Friday and over
the weekend. Other than some increase in showers, the impacts from
this upper level low looks to be minimal. Stay tuned for more
details.

&&

.AVIATION...
A high pressure cell to the north northeast of Hawaii will bring
breezy to windy trades to the island today. This will cause
moderate turbulence over the lee side of the mountains. Showers
will be mainly limited to windward coasts and slopes. Brief MVFR
conditions are possible, but not expecting anything widespread.

AIRMET TANGO remains in affect below 8000 feet over immediately
south thru west facing slopes due to moderate turbulence.

&&

.MARINE...
Strong to near-gale force winds are possible today, with the
strongest winds expected in the channels. The strong trade winds
are the result of a 1030 mb high NNE of the islands with a surface
ridge to our north. The ridge is expected to begin to weaken
tonight, and that will lead to a slight downward trend to the
winds as we head towards the weekend.

A Small Craft Advisory (SCA) is in effect for all coastal waters
today due to these winds, and a few areas could see seas near or
at 10 feet. The SCA scales back to our more typical windier areas
near Maui County and the Big Island tonight as we expect the winds
to weaken a bit. The SCA for those areas is posted through
Saturday, but may need to be extended.

Surf will remain below advisory levels along all shores into next
week. Small swells from the SSE and SW will deliver small surf to
south facing shores for the next few days. Rough and choppy
short-period wind waves, due in part to the strong winds, along
east facing shores are expected to peak below advisory levels
today and Friday before diminishing slightly over the weekend. A
tiny, short-period N swell is expected the next couple of days
before the north facing shores go completely flat.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Wind Advisory until 6 PM HST this evening for Lanai-Kahoolawe-
Maui Central Valley-South Big Island-Big Island North and East-
Kohala.

Small Craft Advisory until 6 PM HST Saturday for Maalaea Bay-
Pailolo Channel-Alenuihaha Channel-Big Island Leeward Waters-Big
Island Southeast Waters.

Small Craft Advisory until 6 PM HST this evening for Kauai
Northwest Waters-Kauai Windward Waters-Kauai Leeward Waters-
Kauai Channel-Oahu Windward Waters-Oahu Leeward Waters-Kaiwi
Channel-Maui County Windward Waters-Maui County Leeward Waters-
Big Island Windward Waters.

&&

DISCUSSION...Kino
AVIATION...Thomas
MARINE...M Ballard