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
161 of 163
Newest spectrum
29 min ago
Systems named
311
Swell · wind sea
205 · 106
Seas crossing
6 buoys
Storms, last month
190 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
Boston, MA 44013 · Eastern Seaboard North · 1 h agoAbout 750 nmi to the ENE (071°T)Waves left about 26 Sep 17Z · Swell peaking at 2.0 m
Virginia Beach, VA 44014 · Eastern Seaboard North · 39 min agoAbout 600 nmi to the S (177°T)Waves left about 26 Sep 01Z · Swell peaking at 0.6 m
Bethany Beach, DE 44084 · Eastern Seaboard North · 29 min agoAbout 1900 nmi to the ENE (067°T)Waves left about 22 Sep 09Z · Swell peaking at 2.3 m