Wave height question?

[BLACK PEARL]

With all these crazy forecasts I've been reading, How much wind is needed for 1 foot waves then 2 then 3 ETC... And proper direction of course! Thanks for all your time! -Dave

PS Thanks WAKINA for this!

http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwher...orecast+Graphs

[BLACK PEARL]

Current conditions!

[cooleyfarms]

I use this site to get an idea. Keep in mind these seem to be open water estimates and I find near shore waves about 1 foot higher.



www.srh.noaa.gov/data/CLE/GLFLE

[BLACK PEARL]

I use this site to get an idea. Keep in mind these seem to be open water estimates and I find near shore waves about 1 foot higher.



www.srh.noaa.gov/data/CLE/GLFLE

I use that too, BUT it always seems wrong since when is 2 feet or less GLASS CALM? LOL

[always trolling]

try NOAA GRAPHICAL FORCAST- CLEVLAND ,OH THIS IS WHAT I USE VERY NICE.......

[BLACK PEARL]

try NOAA GRAPHICAL FORCAST- CLEVLAND ,OH THIS IS WHAT I USE VERY NICE.......

Thank YOU!

http://graphical.weather.gov/sectors/cleMarineDay.php

[PatSea]

TIN CAN, your comment about the affect of air temperature on wave height is very interesting, and one that I have experienced over the years, but care to explain further? Does it have to do with the density af the air exerting more force on the water surface, thuis causing larger wave heights?

[limitlypps]

I ran 22 miles east from Colchester to Pt Pelee, the winds were west around 10 knots with a two ft chop and running to Pelee was a breeze until I was about 4 miles from destination near the shipping channel, that 2ft chop gradually turned into 3-4's, it was noted that the winds at the Sandusky buoy were west at 16 knots.As the morning progressed those 3's and 4's turned into 6- and 7's, that absolutely sucked as we tried in vain to bring in hogs and lost them in the troughs.By noon the body and boat were in fatigue mode and we lost as many fish we caught, 28, 8 short of limit, but I said one more pass in this chit ain't gonna happen.A 40 minute run there took two hrs. to get back and low and behold there was still a mere 2ft chop as we headed back east 4 miles from home.So I guess the moral to the story is, always expect the unexpected when you travel out to sea and wave heights do change and vary with wind direction, speed and water depths.
Boy is my body ever sore today.......

[everhamme]

All of the buoys on the Great Lakes report what is called the significant wave height, which as someone said earlier is the average of the highest 1/3 of all waves measured during the reporting interval. Each wave is measured trough to crest. For example if the buoy measures the height of 9 waves the buoy will report the average peak to trough height of the highest 3 waves. This measurement will be higher than the average, but lower than the highest measured wave. As a rule of thumb the highest measured wave can be up to 2x higher than the reported significant wave height, which is why some folks say to double the reproted wave height. For folks in a smaller boat they will certainly tend to judge wave height based upon the highest wave measured over a few minute period.

Take note that NOAA's weather forecasts are also estimating the expected significant wave height, but often defaul to a "range" of heights (e.g. 1 to 3, 2 to 4, 3 to 5) that cover the forecast over a larger area and time scale.

The buoys are VERY accurate and you can be assured that the data they are reporting is what the conditions are at that station at that time. In addition wave forecasts will match the actual forecasts IF the forecast can ge the wind right. NOAA tracks the accuracy of their wave models (that are run usign the actual measured wind speeds) versus the actual wave height measurements and they are always very close. Here's an example of the model-data comparison for the 45005 buoy

http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/...5005&year=2013