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
47 min ago
Systems named
326
Swell · wind sea
223 · 103
Seas crossing
2 buoys
Storms, last month
197 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
Mid Gulf 42001 · Gulf of Mexico · 57 min agoSwell 6 s 26° moderate crests
West Gulf 42002 · Gulf of Mexico · 57 min agoWind sea 6 s 27° moderate crests
Yucatan Basin, MX 42056 · Gulf of Mexico · 57 min agoSwell 7 s 29° moderate crests
West Tampa, FL 42036 · Gulf of Mexico · 1 h agoWind sea 5 s 32° moderate crests
Aransas Pass Channel Entrance, TX 42092 · Gulf of Mexico · 1 h agoWind sea 6 s 33° moderate crests
Pensacola, FL 42039 · Gulf of Mexico · 57 min agoSwell 5 s 33° moderate crests
Bay of Campeche, MX 42055 · Gulf of Mexico · 57 min agoWind sea 5 s 36° moderate crests
Orange Beach, AL 42012 · Gulf of Mexico · 1 h agoSwell 5 s 37° moderate crests
Galveston, TX 42035 · Gulf of Mexico · 57 min agoWind sea 6 s 38° moderate crests
Offshore St. Petersburg, FL 42099 · Gulf of Mexico · 47 min agoWind sea 4 s 38° moderate crests
Satan Shoal, FL 42095 · Gulf of Mexico · 1 h agoWind sea 6 s 41° short, confused crests
Egmont Channel Entrance, FL 42098 · Gulf of Mexico · 1 h agoWind sea 6 s 42° short, confused crests
Southwest Pass Entrance W, LA 42084 · Gulf of Mexico · 1 h agoWind sea 5 s 42° short, confused crests