Waves in Saksun

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Thursday, October 29, at 7:59 am (WET)

Now · significant height 8.0 ft

Sea state: Moderate · Douglas 4
Period: 9.1 s · W
Swell: 5.8 ft · 7 s
Highest expected: 16 ft

Waves up to 11 ft today

Today the sea at Saksun is moderate: 8.0 ft waves with a period of 9.1 s from the west. The swell, 5.8 ft at 7 s, comes from the west.

Wave height, next 7 days

2.04.06.08.01012 ft 11 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 common4.0 ft
Significant8.0 ft
Highest expected16 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 16 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 16 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	0.3 ft–1.6 ft
3	Slight	1.6 ft–4.1 ft
4	Moderate · today	4.1 ft–8.2 ft
5	Rough · week peak	8.2 ft–13.1 ft
6	Very rough	13.1 ft–19.7 ft
7	High	19.7 ft–29.5 ft

Waves day by day

Day	Max wave	Sea state	Direction	Max period	Swell	Max wind
Today	11 ft	Rough	W	10 s	11 ft W	23 mph SSW
Fri 30	8.1 ft	Moderate	SW	11 s	7.4 ft WSW	26 mph SSW
Sat 31	7.5 ft	Moderate	WSW	11 s	7.3 ft WSW	13 mph SSW
Sun 1	7.5 ft	Moderate	W	9 s	7.0 ft W	12 mph WSW
Mon 2	7.5 ft	Moderate	W	8 s	7.0 ft W	9 mph WSW
Tue 3	7.4 ft	Moderate	WSW	11 s	5.4 ft W	13 mph SW
Wed 4	8.7 ft	Rough	WSW	11 s	7.6 ft WSW	13 mph SW

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	11 ft	9.7 ft	8.5 ft	7.7 ft	7.3 ft	7.2 ft	7.3 ft	7.7 ft
Period	9.7 s	9.4 s	9.2 s	9.0 s	8.8 s	8.6 s	8.7 s	8.9 s
Direction	W	W	W	W	W	W	WSW	WSW
Swell	11 ft · 8 s	9.1 ft · 8 s	6.8 ft · 7 s	5.2 ft · 7 s	4.6 ft · 8 s	4.1 ft · 8 s	5.5 ft · 7 s	6.0 ft · 8 s
Wind (mph)	13 WSW	8 SW	6 SSW	8 S	11 SSW	10 S	12 S	14 S

Previous days

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

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Wed 28	18 ft W	11 s	13 ft W
Tue 27	16 ft SW	11 s	7.5 ft SW
Mon 26	11 ft W	9 s	9.2 ft WSW
Sun 25	10 ft N	10 s	6.2 ft WSW
Sat 24	7.5 ft WNW	11 s	6.9 ft WSW
Fri 23	7.2 ft W	11 s	6.6 ft W
Thu 22	6.2 ft W	11 s	5.9 ft W

Show all 14 days

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Wed 21	8.2 ft WSW	12 s	7.9 ft WSW
Tue 20	12 ft WSW	13 s	11 ft W
Mon 19	16 ft WSW	13 s	15 ft W
Sun 18	12 ft WSW	10 s	9.5 ft W
Sat 17	11 ft WNW	10 s	7.2 ft WNW
Fri 16	15 ft NW	12 s	13 ft NNW
Thu 15	26 ft WSW	15 s	20 ft W

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 SaksunQuestions

How are the waves today in Saksun?

Moderate (8.0 ft with a period of 9.1 s from the west). The highest wave to expect is around 16 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Thursday 29, with waves up to 11 ft (rough).

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 16 ft.

More about Saksun today

Waves near Saksun

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 3.2 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 7:59 am (local time).

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