WAILUA — An upper level low brought white Christmas to the summits of the Big Island as it generated snow with a chance for more late yesterday. According to the National Weather Service, the upper level low about 260 miles
WAILUA — An upper level low brought white Christmas to the summits of the Big Island as it generated snow with a chance for more late yesterday.
According to the National Weather Service, the upper level low about 260 miles southeast of Hilo on Christmas day is expected to move to the west and weaken through the weekend.
The upper low pressure area has also brought advisory level winds to the Big Island summits, and has also generated a short-period tradewind swell that necessitated a high surf advisory for the east-facing shores of other Hawaiian islands.
According to the NWS discussion, the seas should remain elevated possibly as late as tomorrow. The NWS high surf advisory remains in effect until 6 p.m. today.
Those weather conditions brought out the kite surfers, who reveled in the 14-mph trades. At times, the gusts were as high as 21 mph, but that did not deter the surfers from spending Christmas day at the beach.
Similar to last year, when the group descended on Fuji Beach in Kapa‘a, this year, the group of about 30 kite surfers and their friends and family congregated at Wailua Beach, attracting passing visitors who were flagged into the parking lot by the colorful kites dancing in the wind.
“They’re doing the tricks, today,” one of the kite supporters said. “And, they’re hitting them.”
Another member of the group said because of the nice conditions, they decided to pack some turkey enchiladas and spend the day at the beach.
Among the kiters in the water, Chris White was taking his turn in the lineup, his skill on the waves drawing from his experience as a skater.
Adam Finn has been kiting for just two years, but was able to execute some fancy aerial tricks close to the shoreline while taking advantage of the inside breaks.
Luke Nagashima has five years of kiting experience, but at 16 years old, was one of the younger kiters out.
That youth gave him the ability to launch at any point on the beach while the more seasoned kiters walked their kites further up the beach to launch in order to gain momentum for hitting the waves at the Wailua River mouth.
“It’s Santa’s gift to the kiters,” the shorebound supporter said.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or via e-mail at dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
