Waves in Hvalba

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Thursday, October 29, at 9:38 am (WET)

Now · significant height 8.5 ft

Sea state: Rough · Douglas 5
Period: 8.6 s · WSW
Swell: 5.5 ft · 8 s
Highest expected: 17 ft

Waves up to 12 ft today

Today the sea at Hvalba is rough: 8.5 ft waves with a period of 8.6 s from the west-southwest. The swell, 5.5 ft at 8 s, comes from the southwest.

Wave height, next 7 days

2.04.06.08.01012 ft 12 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 common4.2 ft
Significant8.5 ft
Highest expected17 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 17 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 17 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	4.1 ft–8.2 ft
5	Rough · today	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	12 ft	Rough	WSW	10 s	9.7 ft WSW	23 mph SSW
Fri 30	11 ft	Rough	SW	11 s	10 ft SW	28 mph SSW
Sat 31	10 ft	Rough	WSW	11 s	10 ft WSW	15 mph SW
Sun 1	8.4 ft	Rough	WSW	9 s	7.3 ft W	14 mph WSW
Mon 2	8.1 ft	Moderate	W	8 s	7.1 ft W	14 mph W
Tue 3	8.4 ft	Rough	WSW	11 s	5.4 ft W	16 mph SSW
Wed 4	10 ft	Rough	WSW	11 s	8.5 ft WSW	18 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	12 ft	10 ft	9.4 ft	8.6 ft	8.1 ft	8.2 ft	8.8 ft	9.6 ft
Period	10.0 s	9.6 s	9.2 s	8.7 s	8.3 s	8.1 s	8.4 s	8.9 s
Direction	W	W	WSW	WSW	WSW	SW	SW	SW
Swell	9.7 ft · 9 s	8.3 ft · 8 s	6.6 ft · 8 s	5.6 ft · 8 s	5.4 ft · 8 s	6.1 ft · 8 s	7.4 ft · 8 s	8.0 ft · 8 s
Wind (mph)	15 WSW	10 SW	9 SSW	11 SSW	16 SSW	17 S	21 S	23 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	20 ft W	12 s	13 ft W
Tue 27	20 ft SW	12 s	12 ft SSW
Mon 26	14 ft WSW	10 s	10 ft WSW
Sun 25	14 ft SW	13 s	12 ft SW
Sat 24	9.5 ft SW	11 s	8.5 ft WSW
Fri 23	7.9 ft W	11 s	7.5 ft W
Thu 22	8.2 ft W	11 s	7.5 ft W

Show all 14 days

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Wed 21	10 ft WSW	11 s	9.8 ft W
Tue 20	14 ft WSW	12 s	13 ft W
Mon 19	18 ft WSW	13 s	17 ft W
Sun 18	13 ft WSW	11 s	10 ft W
Sat 17	9.5 ft W	10 s	8.5 ft WSW
Fri 16	15 ft W	12 s	14 ft WSW
Thu 15	31 ft WSW	15 s	22 ft WSW

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 HvalbaQuestions

How are the waves today in Hvalba?

Rough (8.5 ft with a period of 8.6 s from the west-southwest). The highest wave to expect is around 17 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Thursday 29, with waves up to 12 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 17 ft.

More about Hvalba today

Waves near Hvalba

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 1.6 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 9:38 am (local time).

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