HONOLULU (KHON2) — It’s getting near that time of year and Big Wave surfers are waiting for the bay to call the day. Everyone wants to know, will The Eddie go this year?
Surf Forecaster Pat Caldwell joined KHON2 to talk about how officials forecast Eddie waves and what they saw the last time The Eddie ran.
According to Caldwell, there are two primary ingredients to the quintessential weather pattern, long-lasting extreme winds and proximity.
“Long-lasting extreme winds create these seas up to 40 to 50 feet. The buggah’s gotta be close because waves lose size as it travels, so it’s gotta be close,” he added.
The Waimea buoys must run between 15 to 20 feet for the swell with wave periods between 18 to 20 seconds.
“Your forerunners at buoy one for the indicator the night before. Gonna be out there at buoy one is gonna be bigger, closer to the source. So it’s gonna be running between 20 and 30 feet.”
Caldwell added that forecasters look to see how the swell changes as it passes through the Hawaiian islands.
“Mother nature is a wiley lady. We get what we get. In this particular case, we were blessed with more than expected.”
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Opening ceremonies for The Eddie waiting period are set for Friday, Dec. 6 at Waimea Bay. KHON2 will be streaming the event on-air, KHON2.com and through our YouTube.