The North Shore lights up in August!

A crushing WNW pulse just extinguished the lazy warmth of Hawaii’s summer. August came to a close as the usual suspects of the North Shore kicked on! Colour Super Typhoon Atsani’s remnants pleasurably uncharacteristic. Atsani’s the same spiraling bad girl who gave Japan a special tongue twisting last week. For good measure the little minx shot the first west swell of the season to the North Shore. “It was great, a perfect summertime swell,” Koa Rothman tells Stab. “We don’t see that every day, especially in August.” This time of year the gem of Oahu traditionally lacks any zestful flavour.

“It doesn’t really get much better at home in the summer,” Koa continues. “I was surfing between Backdoor and Rocky (Point) Rights. There’s still waves right now, we just surfed. Not as good as the other days but still fun. It was perfect conditions all weekend. We haven’t surfed head-high backdoor that fun in a long time. It was good to get some swell for the backend of the summer.”

“Rocky Point and Sunset looked really good,” lensman Gavin Shigesato tells us. “Backdoor was working too. But Sunset’s always good for early season swell, we just typically don’t get them this early… All week the waves were on. They said it was supposed to peak Friday, but Saturday morning was offering up it’s fair share of good ones.”

The last early season swell that turned on was late October, 2013. Pipeline did what it’s known for and was bigger than what we’ve just witnessed. Regardless a WNW in August is unheard of, although it does coincide with the strange season of surf, animal migrations and water temperatures in the Pacific. This is just the start of a string of uncharacteristic pre-season swells for the seven mile miracle and beyond. Currently there’s three separate hurricanes brewing in the lovely Pacific Ocean; Ms Kilo, Ms Jimena and Ms Ignacio. All three are projected to send swell to the Islands. “We didn’t get any waves in Maui,” an injured and bummed Matt Meola tells us. “Oahu had some really good ones, this next hurricane swell could get pretty nuts.” The west coast will also get it’s fair share. After a meager summer of waves, Hawaiian and Californian surfers’ resilience is finally paying off.