While skiers and snowboarders are waiting breathlessly for a new winter to arrive, those who get to feel it first are actually surfers in Hawaii, and if you ask them, they’ll be the first to tell you winter arrived with a bang on Tuesday, as 50-foot swells generated from the first north Pacific storm of the season slammed the north shore of Maui.
As the northern Pacific storm system comes alive each winter, powerful swells begin marching across its vast expanse. Within days those swells make landfall, hitting the reefs of Hawaii before reaching the U.S. mainland days later. These massive walls of water carry tremendous energy, which is unleashed as they detonate in spectacular fashion.
Naturally, these massive waves are impossible for big-wave surfers to resist.
Californian surfer Greg Long caught this wave at the north shore of Maui.
Winter comes early in Hawaii with arrival of 50-foot surf
by Chris Mauro
GrindTV.com
http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/36285/winter+comes+early+in+hawaii+with+arrival+of+50-foot+surf/
Photo: BrunoLemos/BillabongXXL
While skiers and snowboarders are waiting breathlessly for a new winter to arrive, those who get to feel it first are actually surfers in Hawaii, and if you ask them, they’ll be the first to tell you winter arrived with a bang on Tuesday, as 50-foot swells generated from the first north Pacific storm of the season slammed the north shore of Maui.
As the northern Pacific storm system comes alive each winter, powerful swells begin marching across its vast expanse. Within days those swells make landfall, hitting the reefs of Hawaii before reaching the U.S. mainland days later. These massive walls of water carry tremendous energy, which is unleashed as they detonate in spectacular fashion.
Naturally, these massive waves are impossible for big-wave surfers to resist.