Most Surf is caused by wind some where. Wind Swell then travels until it hits reef or land.  Hurricanes and Winter Storms are the two most popular wave producers for the North Coast of the Dominican Republic.Winter Storms come from the North and are pretty simple to read, if it´s snowing in New York, Kite Beach Cabarete should have quality surf 30 hours later.   With out a doubt, Hurricanes are more dynamic and harder to read. Hurricanes come from the East and circulate in a counter clock wise spiral. The North side of the storm is where the action is, the South Side, or Lee side of the storm is the Weak side.

kite beach surf, wind and weather

With out a doubt, Hurricanes are more challenging to read, the above picture shows 2 (current) storms moving off the coast of Africa...so here are some basics
1. Both storms are 20 degrees above the Equator, which is good for us here on the North Shore. Once a storm drifts above 20 degrees, it rarely comes back.
2. Notice the black inside the storm, this indicates intense action and tight circulation which is good for generating waves.
3. Notice the lite blue color off the coast of New York, this is wind swell from a Low Pressure system, this Low will most likely keep the Hurricane from drifting North.
4. Under the words Storm Surf it says "+180 hours", this is a forecast of where the swell will be in 180 hours.
5. Lee Side can have great surf and off shore winds depending on the speed and distance of the storm.
As wave riders watch this storm they are hoping for a storm which is slow moving, stalls East of the island and throws a ho loto surf