Reading Surf Forecasts: The Basics
This is the first post in my Reading Surf Forecasts series. Check out the second post here.
Any forecast worth its salt will include at least 7 metrics.
Swell Height —This has a technical definition that we’ll get into in a later post but for now let’s use the obvious definition — this is the height from the bottom (trough) of the wave to the top (crest).
Swell Direction — The direction in degrees (270° being west, 90° being east) that the waves are coming from (not going to).
Swell Period — The time (in seconds) between waves. We’ll get into why this is important later.
Wind Speed + Wind Direction— Self explanatory. Direction is measured in degrees just like swell direction.
Tide Height — This, like swell height, has a technical definition but for now we’ll go with the obvious definition — this describes how high up the shore the water would sit if there were no waves.
Tide Direction — Is the tide going up or down?
Most beginning surfers focus on one metric — swell height. While quite important this metric rarely tells the whole story and if you rely solely on it, you’ll end up surfing some awful waves.
In our next post, we’ll go over how to use these metrics to tell if that 4–5 foot swell is going to be as good as it sounds.
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