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
43 min ago
Systems named
306
Swell · wind sea
199 · 107
Seas crossing
9 buoys
Storms, last month
203 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
Red Beach Nearshore 46275 · California · 1 h agoSwell 12 s 14° long crests
Angeles Point, WA (248) 46267 · Pacific Northwest · 1 h agoSwell 11 s 15° long crests
Monterey Canyon Outer, CA (156) 46236 · California · 1 h agoSwell 11 s 17° long crests
Harvest, CA (071) 46218 · California · 1 h agoSwell 11 s 18° long crests
Monterey, CA 46042 · California · 43 min agoSwell 10 s 18° long crests
San Nicolas Island, CA 46219 · California · 1 h agoWind sea 10 s 18° long crests
Santa Maria, CA 46011 · California · 1 h agoSwell 10 s 18° long crests
Rawley Point East, WI 45210 · Great Lakes · 1 h agoWind sea 6 s 19° long crests
Grays Harbor, WA 46211 · Pacific Northwest · 1 h agoSwell 11 s 20° long crests
Central Gulf of Alaska 46085 · Alaska · 43 min agoSwell 9 s 20° long crests
Lower Cook Inlet, AK 46108 · Alaska · 1 h agoWind sea 6 s 20° long crests
Diablo Canyon, CA 46215 · California · 1 h agoWind sea 10 s 23° long crests
Tanner Bank, CA 46047 · California · 43 min agoSwell 12 s 23° long crests
Tillamook Bay South Jetty, OR 46278 · Pacific Northwest · 1 h agoSwell 11 s 23° long crests
West Washington 46005 · Pacific Northwest · 43 min agoSwell 10 s 23° long crests
Yucatan Basin, MX 42056 · Gulf of Mexico · 43 min agoWind sea 8 s 24° long crests
Mission Bay West, CA 46258 · California · 1 h agoSwell 12 s 24° long crests
Point Loma South, CA 46232 · California · 1 h agoSwell 12 s 24° long crests
Scripps Nearshore, CA 46254 · California · 1 h agoWind sea 7 s 24° long crests
Block Island, RI (154) 44097 · Eastern Seaboard North · 1 h agoSwell 12 s 25° moderate crests