Wave height question?

[Eyecutioner]

I use a app called buoy on the play store it is like a 1.99 but it will give u live feed back of both weather buoys in lake erie and wind speeds at marble head and southbass just remember whatever the buoy reads double it because the buoy only measures up.

I guess I just don't understand how this works. Why does the buoy only measure up?

[cooleyfarms]

2 feet or less could be glass calm, considering the "less" report. I have been anchored perching with the wind blowing from the east, flags on Kelly's Island blowing south, and flags dead calm when I get back to the dock. Open water measurements are always different that near shore ( five miles or less).

Buoys measure the height from a calm lake to the top of a wave. They do not measure the trough, hence double the number to get an idea of how much rock "n" roll is expected. For example, 2-4 foot waves will have a trough of about the same height so you will have a 4-8 foot distance from top of wave to bottom of trough.

[PDnaz]

I have found it depends on the size of your boat in terms of wave height.
smaller boat waves seem bigger,

[B can man]

Weather buoy 45005 is the most accurate way I have found to tell current wave conditions (when DOUBLED). From my experience this season so far, that is verrrry accurate. Thanks for sharing that with me earlier this year guys.

The rule of 1ft for every 5mph of wind is accurate enough as a starting point, but is very dependent on the wind direction and where you plan to fish. 12mph wind out of the east or northeast can churn up 3-4ft'ers when not knocked down by an island or peninsula. 12mph winds out of the south seem to usually only kick up 1-2ft'ers.

[Eyecutioner]

2 feet or less could be glass calm, considering the "less" report. I have been anchored perching with the wind blowing from the east, flags on Kelly's Island blowing south, and flags dead calm when I get back to the dock. Open water measurements are always different that near shore ( five miles or less).

Buoys measure the height from a calm lake to the top of a wave. They do not measure the trough, hence double the number to get an idea of how much rock "n" roll is expected. For example, 2-4 foot waves will have a trough of about the same height so you will have a 4-8 foot distance from top of wave to bottom of trough.

Thanks for that explanation. At least I now know why to double the number. No wonder those 2 footers seemed so high.

[TIN CAN]

The buoy does not actually measure the height of the wave, instead an onboard 3 axis accelerometer measures the speed of rise and fall and the duration in seconds and an then computes a theoretical distance in feet or meters that represents wave height. They are fairly accurate estimates of wave height from top to bottom. The best indicator they provide is contained in the "dominate wave duration column. waves of over 4 and 5 second duration are big.

Another factor to consider in wind wave calculations aside from "Fetch" or the distance the wind affects the water is air temperature. A 15 knot NE wind on an 85 degree day will provide minimal water displacement however the same wind on a 40 degree day will provide significant waves.

[bowguy84]

I guess I just don't understand how this works. Why does the buoy only measure up?

I don't know the answer to that . Thays just what I've been told by a lot of captains around my marina maybe tincan can tell u why

[bowguy84]

Actually I just read post 12 on the new weather buoy it takes a average of the trough to the top of the biggest 1/3 of the waves so people usually double that because there are likley waves that big out there becaused of the average thing.