Bluegraph
SIMarineUS

Wave intelligence

The systems in the sea

A buoy's significant wave height sums everything in the sea: long groundswell from a storm a thousand miles off, a closer swell, the chop of the local wind. Each buoy's measured directional spectrum is partitioned into those systems, which are followed through time, used to place the storms the swells came from, and checked for seas that cross.

Stations analysed
160 of 164
Newest spectrum
58 min ago
Systems named
313
Swell · wind sea
207 · 106
Seas crossing
8 buoys
Storms, last month
218 placed →
Window
The last 4 days
Method
Reference

Every buoy by how orderly its largest system is: a narrow directional spread means long crests, as in groundswell; a wide one, short, confused seas.

Each petal is a system, pointing to where it comes from, north up. Its length grows with height (the ring is 4 m); its width is the directional spread. Swell Wind sea Storm placed

StationLargest systemDirectional spread
San Pedro South, CA 46253 · California · 1 h agoWind sea 10 s 28° moderate crests
Albatross Bank, AK 46078 · Alaska · 58 min agoSwell 7 s 28° moderate crests
North Point, Pohnpei 52213 · Pacific islands · 1 h agoWind sea 7 s 28° moderate crests
Cape Canaveral Nearshore, FL 41113 · Eastern Seaboard South · 1 h agoWind sea 4 s 29° moderate crests
South Santa Rosa Island, CA 46069 · California · 58 min agoSwell 12 s 29° moderate crests
West Santa Barbara, CA 46054 · California · 58 min agoSwell 10 s 29° moderate crests
Port Orford, OR 46015 · Pacific Northwest · 58 min agoSwell 11 s 29° moderate crests
Cape Mendocino, CA (094) 46213 · California · 1 h agoWind sea 8 s 30° moderate crests
Point Reyes, CA 46214 · California · 1 h agoWind sea 9 s 30° moderate crests
Cape Cleare, AK 46076 · Alaska · 58 min agoWind sea 7 s 30° moderate crests
Cape Suckling, AK 46082 · Alaska · 58 min agoSwell 8 s 30° moderate crests
Central Aleutians, AK 46072 · Alaska · 58 min agoWind sea 9 s 30° moderate crests
Northern Hawaii One 51000 · Hawaii · 1 h agoSwell 9 s 30° moderate crests
Bay of Campeche, MX 42055 · Gulf of Mexico · 58 min agoWind sea 6 s 31° moderate crests
Satan Shoal, FL 42095 · Gulf of Mexico · 1 h agoWind sea 7 s 31° moderate crests
West Gulf 42002 · Gulf of Mexico · 58 min agoWind sea 6 s 31° moderate crests
Western Caribbean 42057 · Caribbean and tropical Atlantic · 58 min agoSwell 7 s 31° moderate crests
San Francisco, CA 46026 · California · 58 min agoSwell 9 s 31° moderate crests
Umpqua, OR Offshore 46229 · Pacific Northwest · 1 h agoSwell 11 s 31° moderate crests
Cape Elizabeth, WA 46041 · Pacific Northwest · 58 min agoSwell 11 s 32° moderate crests