We've just had a long spell of major Kona winds here in Hawaii with winds yesterday reaching up to 70mph here on Maui in a few spots. Kona winds blow from the opposite direction than the more usual trade winds and it's always quite a scene here on the northshore as big waves run into these strong winds.

To go along with that we also had a huge swell that came in at the same with face wavel heights of 40 feet at times. I took a few pictures over the last few days, and although the pictures don't capture it all that well (especially the wave size - no point of reference) it's still pretty amazing.

Check out the plane in the top of the frame <s>. It was so damn windy it looked like the plane was going 10 miles an hour on its way to the airport. Probably not, but the wind certainly slowed down that flight considerably. Wouldn't want to have been on that flight!!!

Here's another picture which has a windsurfer on one of the waves at Hookipa so you can get a feel for size. Mast is approximately 15 feet and you definitely can't see the bottom of the swell <s>.

Unfortunately I got there a little late and this guy was the last one out before getting blown off the water. It was blowing a solid 40 knots that day which on the wave face gets amplified even more. And no - I don't do that. I may like to go windsurfing in big waves, but wave sailing in 40 foot swell with 40 knot wind  is just plain crazy!

I did manage to get out one later day but it was still too damn windy for the gear I have here. 40 knots are fine in the Gorge, but here nobody has small gear. Funny to see everybody scrambling for their dishrags <s>.

This is what the reef in front of my house looked like. Usually this reef breaks very tiny waves but it managed quite a spectacle between the big waves and wind:

I'm surprised there wasn't more damage with all this wind. Usually the power goes as soon as it blows more than 20 miles an hour <s>.