Powerful Hurricane Olaf to Stir Up Surf in Hawaii
Hurricane Olaf will remain a powerful hurricane over the next several days, bringing high surf to Hawaii later this week.
The potent storm is currently moving towards the west-northwest in the direction of the Hawaiian Islands, but is expected to turn to the north by the end of the week.
This northerly turn should keep the storm several hundred miles to the east of the islands as it passes by on Friday into Saturday.

Even though the storm will remain far enough away to keep rain and wind well offshore, high surf will be a threat to the Islands from Thursday into the weekend.
"Olaf is a large and powerful hurricane," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Evan Duffey. "The large wind field around it is significantly disrupting the oceans surface."
Swells will likely top 10 to 15 feet by the end of the week and this weekend.
"The seas on the eastern shores of the Big Island could become especially rough," Duffey said.

While surfers will delight in the higher swells, the high surf will be dangerous to beachgoers due to the large breaking waves and the threat of rip currents.
Some beaches, especially the eastern-facing beaches of the Big Island, may need to be closed later this week due to the high surf.
As Olaf moves northeastward away from Hawaii into early next week, some of the moisture from the weakened system could get picked up into a cold front and make it to the west coast of the U.S. by the middle of next week.
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