Bud Makes Maui Wind a Dud

As predicted, former hurricane Bud is currently passing north of the Hawaiian islands and is effectively shutting down the trade winds. Winds yesterday and today have only been light onshore sea breezes during the day, hitting about 10 - 12 mph. Great stuff if you're into boards wider than docks and sails bigger than tents. Not what most people come to Maui for though.

Bud should be exiting to our west tomorrow, but on his heals is his sibling Carlotta, also a former hurricane, who, in addition to keeping the trades light may bring in more moisture. The upshot of all this is that, here in July, typically our windiest month, we're likely to see very light winds through early next week.

My experience here on Maui the last few years is that these former hurricanes often play havoc with our trade winds but it's usually in August when this happens. Guess Bud and Carlotta didn't get the memo. And if that weren't enough, there's currently hurricane Daniel in the eastern Pacific. We'll have to wait and see what his plans are.