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
162 of 164
Newest spectrum
46 min ago
Systems named
313
Swell · wind sea
207 · 106
Seas crossing
9 buoys
Storms, last month
224 placed →
Window
The last 4 days
Method
Reference

Swells whose arrival places the storm that raised them, found over the last four days: how far off it was, in which direction, and when the waves left.

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

StationWhere the swell came from
Mission Bay West, CA 46258 · California · 1 h agoAbout 1650 nmi to the WSW (245°T)Waves left about 27 Sep 08Z · Groundswell peaking at 1.5 m
Harvest, CA (071) 46218 · California · 1 h agoAbout 1400 nmi to the NW (305°T)Waves left about 27 Sep 00Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.3 m
Cape San Martin, CA 46028 · California · 46 min agoAbout 1400 nmi to the NNW (329°T)Waves left about 26 Sep 18Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.7 m · 2 storms in all
Bodega Bay, CA 46013 · California · 46 min agoAbout 1300 nmi to the WNW (302°T)Waves left about 26 Sep 18Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.7 m
Point Arena, CA 46014 · California · 46 min agoAbout 1350 nmi to the WNW (293°T)Waves left about 26 Sep 10Z · Groundswell peaking at 1.4 m
West California 46059 · California · 46 min agoAbout 900 nmi to the SSE (153°T)Waves left about 26 Sep 09Z · Groundswell peaking at 0.9 m · 3 storms in all
San Nicolas Island, CA 46219 · California · 1 h agoAbout 1900 nmi to the NW (307°T)Waves left about 26 Sep 08Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.5 m
Diablo Canyon, CA 46215 · California · 1 h agoAbout 1650 nmi to the WSW (253°T)Waves left about 26 Sep 06Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.3 m
St Georges, CA 46027 · California · 46 min agoAbout 1500 nmi to the WNW (297°T)Waves left about 25 Sep 22Z · Groundswell peaking at 1.7 m · 2 storms in all
Tanner Bank, CA 46047 · California · 46 min agoAbout 2600 nmi to the WNW (300°T)Waves left about 25 Sep 04Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.7 m
Cape Mendocino, CA (094) 46213 · California · 1 h agoAbout 1950 nmi to the WNW (292°T)Waves left about 25 Sep 04Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.7 m
West Santa Barbara, CA 46054 · California · 46 min agoAbout 2800 nmi to the NW (304°T)Waves left about 24 Sep 13Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.6 m
Santa Maria, CA 46011 · California · 46 min agoAbout 2800 nmi to the NW (311°T)Waves left about 24 Sep 09Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.6 m
San Francisco, CA 46026 · California · 46 min agoAbout 2800 nmi to the W (261°T)Waves left about 24 Sep 01Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.4 m
Topanga Nearshore 46268 · California · 1 h agoAbout 3900 nmi to the SSW (207°T)Waves left about 23 Sep 22Z · Groundswell peaking at 0.5 m
Santa Lucia Escarpment, CA 46259 · California · 1 h agoAbout 3100 nmi to the NW (307°T)Waves left about 23 Sep 22Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.6 m
Point Sur, CA (157) 46239 · California · 2 h agoAbout 3100 nmi to the WNW (295°T)Waves left about 23 Sep 17Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.8 m
Point Reyes, CA 46214 · California · 1 h agoAbout 3300 nmi to the W (273°T)Waves left about 23 Sep 05Z · Groundswell peaking at 2.1 m
Eel River, CA 46022 · California · 46 min agoAbout 3300 nmi to the WNW (303°T)Waves left about 22 Sep 16Z · Swell peaking at 3.0 m