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
31 min ago
Systems named
309
Swell · wind sea
208 · 101
Seas crossing
9 buoys
Storms, last month
219 placed →
Window
The last 4 days
Method
Reference

Buoys where the two largest systems now meet at 40° or more with comparable energy, in seas of 1.5 m or more: steeper, less regular waves than the height alone suggests.

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

StationCrossingSystems
West Washington 46005 · Pacific Northwest · 41 min ago 75° apartthe smaller holds 73% of the larger's energy
  • Wind sea1.2 m7 sWSW ↓ fading
  • Swell1.0 m11 sNW
  • Swell0.6 m11 sS new
Port Orford, OR 46015 · Pacific Northwest · 41 min ago 65° apartthe smaller holds 88% of the larger's energy
  • Swell1.3 m9 sW
  • Wind sea1.2 m5 sN new