Waves in Hillsborough

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Wednesday, October 28, at 9:46 pm (ADT)

Now · significant height 0.6 ft

Sea state: Smooth · Douglas 2
Period: 2.6 s · SW
Swell: 0.3 ft · 3 s
Highest expected: 1.3 ft

Today the sea at Hillsborough is smooth: 0.6 ft waves with a period of 2.6 s from the southwest. The swell, 0.3 ft at 3 s, comes from the southwest. Biggest waves: Thursday 29, with waves up to 2.4 ft (slight).

Wave height, next 7 days

1.02.03.0 ft 2.4 ft Now

Significant height: the average of the highest third of the waves, what an observer would estimate by eye. Swell: waves arriving from far away, longer.

The waves you may find today

Most common0.3 ft
Significant0.6 ft
Highest expected1.3 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 1.3 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 1.3 ft.

The Douglas sea state scale

Degree	Name	Wave height
0	Calm (glassy)	0
1	Calm (rippled)	0.0 ft–0.3 ft
2	Smooth · today	0.3 ft–1.6 ft
3	Slight · week peak	1.6 ft–4.1 ft
4	Moderate	4.1 ft–8.2 ft
5	Rough	8.2 ft–13.1 ft
6	Very rough	13.1 ft–19.7 ft

Waves day by day

Day	Max wave	Sea state	Direction	Max period	Swell	Max wind
Today	0.7 ft	Smooth	W	3 s	0.4 ft W	10 mph WSW
Thu 29	2.4 ft	Slight	SW	4 s	0.4 ft SW	13 mph WSW
Fri 30	2.4 ft	Slight	SW	5 s	1.0 ft SW	13 mph W
Sat 31	0.9 ft	Smooth	WNW	5 s	0.5 ft W	13 mph NW
Sun 1	0.7 ft	Smooth	SW	4 s	0.5 ft SW	12 mph WSW
Mon 2	1.1 ft	Smooth	SW	4 s	0.8 ft SW	13 mph WSW
Tue 3	0.5 ft	Smooth	SW	4 s	0.5 ft SW	8 mph SSW

Today, every 3 hours

Time	12:00 am	3:00 am	6:00 am	9:00 am	12:00 pm	3:00 pm	6:00 pm	9:00 pm
Waves	0.7 ft	0.7 ft	0.5 ft	0.2 ft	0.1 ft	0.1 ft	0.5 ft	0.6 ft
Period	1.9 s	2.0 s	2.1 s	2.2 s	2.3 s	1.8 s	2.0 s	2.5 s
Direction	NW	NW	NW	WNW	W	WSW	SW	SW
Swell	0.1 ft · 2 s	0.1 ft · 2 s	0.3 ft · 2 s	0.2 ft · 2 s	0.1 ft · 2 s	0.1 ft · 3 s	0.2 ft · 2 s	0.3 ft · 3 s
Wind (mph)	8 W	8 W	8 W	7 WSW	8 W	10 WSW	8 WSW	10 WSW

Previous days

The waves over the last 14 days. Tap a day to see it hour by hour.

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Tue 27	1.0 ft NW	4 s	0.3 ft WSW
Mon 26	1.0 ft SW	4 s	0.7 ft SW
Sun 25	1.0 ft SW	3 s	0.3 ft SW
Sat 24	0.7 ft NNW	2 s	0.3 ft NNW
Fri 23	2.3 ft N	3 s	0.3 ft N
Thu 22	1.6 ft NNE	5 s	0.0 ft NNE
Wed 21	0.0 ft NNE	2 s	0.0 ft N

Show all 14 days

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Tue 20	0.7 ft WNW	3 s	0.3 ft WSW
Mon 19	1.0 ft SSW	3 s	0.3 ft SSW
Sun 18	0.7 ft W	4 s	0.3 ft WSW
Sat 17	1.0 ft WSW	4 s	0.7 ft SW
Fri 16	1.0 ft SSW	4 s	0.3 ft SSW
Thu 15	2.0 ft NW	3 s	0.7 ft W
Wed 14	0.3 ft S	4 s	0.0 ft SSW

These are the models at the start of each day (ECMWF and GFS; waves from Météo-France), not readings from a weather station: there can be differences at specific spots.

Questions about the waves in HillsboroughQuestions

How are the waves today in Hillsborough?

Smooth (0.6 ft with a period of 2.6 s from the southwest). The highest wave to expect is around 1.3 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Thursday 29, with waves up to 2.4 ft (slight).

What is the wave period?

The time, in seconds, between two crests. With long periods (over 10 s) waves come from far away, are cleaner and break harder; with short periods they are wind waves, choppier.

What is significant wave height?

The average of the highest third of the waves. One in seven is higher and, a few times a day, one comes in at almost double: today, about 1.3 ft.

More about Hillsborough today

Waves near Hillsborough

Only places with a different forecast: spots a few miles apart share the same model cell and wouldn't add anything.

Learn more

Waves: Open-Meteo with Météo-France (MFWAM, up to 10 days) and ECMWF WAM, CC BY 4.0; wave grid point 10 mi away. Near the shore, the seabed and the shape of the coast change the waves.

Forecast from Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0) with models from ECMWF, NOAA, Météo-France, DWD, Copernicus Marine and CAMS. Updated at 9:46 pm (local time).

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