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
43 min ago
Systems named
305
Swell · wind sea
204 · 101
Seas crossing
4 buoys
Storms, last month
190 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
Frying Pan Shoals, NC 41013 · Eastern Seaboard South · 53 min agoWind sea 3 s 21° long crests
South Bermuda 41049 · Eastern Seaboard South · 53 min agoGroundswell 15 s 30° moderate crests
South Hatteras 41002 · Eastern Seaboard South · 53 min agoSwell 5 s 32° moderate crests
Duck FRF, NC 44056 · Eastern Seaboard South · 1 h agoWind sea 9 s 35° moderate crests
St. Augustine, FL (194) 41117 · Eastern Seaboard South · 43 min agoWind sea 10 s 36° moderate crests
Onslow Bay Outer, NC (217) 41159 · Eastern Seaboard South · 43 min agoSwell 10 s 38° moderate crests
Duck FRF 26 m, NC 44100 · Eastern Seaboard South · 43 min agoWind sea 9 s 39° moderate crests
Hollywood Beach, FL (265) 41122 · Eastern Seaboard South · 1 h agoWind sea 2 s 40° moderate crests
Cape Canaveral Nearshore, FL 41113 · Eastern Seaboard South · 43 min agoWind sea 9 s 41° short, confused crests
Nags Head, NC 44086 · Eastern Seaboard South · 1 h agoWind sea 9 s 41° short, confused crests
Masonboro Inlet, ILM2, NC (150) 41110 · Eastern Seaboard South · 43 min agoWind sea 8 s 42° short, confused crests
Canaveral East, FL 41010 · Eastern Seaboard South · 53 min agoSwell 9 s 44° short, confused crests
Oregon Inlet, NC 44095 · Eastern Seaboard South · 43 min agoSwell 8 s 44° short, confused crests
Fernandina Beach, FL Offshore 41112 · Eastern Seaboard South · 43 min agoWind sea 9 s 47° short, confused crests
Fort Pierce, FL (134) 41114 · Eastern Seaboard South · 43 min agoWind sea 9 s 47° short, confused crests
Cape Hatteras East, NC (250) 41120 · Eastern Seaboard South · 43 min agoWind sea 8 s 51° short, confused crests
Edisto, SC 41004 · Eastern Seaboard South · 1 h agoSwell 9 s 52° short, confused crests
Diamond Shoals, NC 41025 · Eastern Seaboard South · 1 h agoGroundswell 13 s 55° short, confused crests
Canaveral, FL 41009 · Eastern Seaboard South · 1 h agoSwell 9 s 56° short, confused crests
West Bermuda 41048 · Eastern Seaboard South · 53 min agoSwell 12 s 56° short, confused crests