Waves in Tairua

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Thursday, October 29, at 10:13 pm (GMT+13)

Now · significant height 2.1 ft

Sea state: Slight · Douglas 3
Period: 5.3 s · NNW
Swell: 1.8 ft · 4 s
Highest expected: 4.4 ft

Today the sea at Tairua is slight: 2.1 ft waves with a period of 5.3 s from the north-northwest. The swell, 1.8 ft at 4 s, comes from the north-northwest. Biggest waves: Wednesday 4, with waves up to 3.0 ft (slight).

Wave height, next 7 days

1.02.03.0 ft 3.0 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 common1.0 ft
Significant2.1 ft
Highest expected4.4 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 4.4 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 4.4 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 · today	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	2.6 ft	Slight	NNW	6 s	1.8 ft N	18 mph W
Fri 30	2.3 ft	Slight	WNW	6 s	1.8 ft NNW	21 mph WSW
Sat 31	1.2 ft	Smooth	NE	8 s	0.7 ft NNE	15 mph SW
Sun 1	2.0 ft	Slight	NNE	8 s	1.2 ft NNE	11 mph N
Mon 2	2.7 ft	Slight	NNE	5 s	2.2 ft NNE	10 mph N
Tue 3	2.6 ft	Slight	NNE	6 s	2.6 ft NNE	11 mph NNE
Wed 4	3.0 ft	Slight	NE	7 s	2.9 ft NE	9 mph NNE

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	1.8 ft	1.8 ft	1.7 ft	1.8 ft	2.2 ft	2.6 ft	2.6 ft	2.2 ft
Period	5.5 s	5.4 s	5.5 s	5.1 s	4.4 s	4.4 s	4.4 s	5.0 s
Direction	N	N	N	NNW	NNW	NW	NW	NNW
Swell	1.2 ft · 6 s	1.2 ft · 5 s	1.5 ft · 5 s	1.4 ft · 5 s	1.4 ft · 5 s	1.7 ft · 5 s	1.8 ft · 5 s	1.8 ft · 5 s
Wind (mph)	10 W	11 W	9 W	12 W	17 W	17 W	15 W	13 W

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	2.3 ft N	7 s	2.0 ft N
Tue 27	3.6 ft N	6 s	2.6 ft N
Mon 26	1.6 ft NNE	12 s	1.3 ft NE
Sun 25	1.0 ft ENE	12 s	1.0 ft ENE
Sat 24	1.3 ft NE	11 s	1.0 ft ENE
Fri 23	1.6 ft NE	11 s	1.3 ft NE
Thu 22	1.3 ft NE	11 s	1.0 ft NE

Show all 14 days

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Wed 21	1.3 ft ENE	10 s	1.0 ft ENE
Tue 20	2.0 ft ENE	10 s	1.6 ft ENE
Mon 19	1.3 ft ENE	8 s	1.3 ft E
Sun 18	2.3 ft E	7 s	2.0 ft E
Sat 17	3.9 ft ESE	7 s	3.0 ft SE
Fri 16	3.9 ft NE	8 s	3.3 ft NE
Thu 15	4.9 ft N	8 s	4.3 ft NNE

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 TairuaQuestions

How are the waves today in Tairua?

Slight (2.1 ft with a period of 5.3 s from the north-northwest). The highest wave to expect is around 4.4 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Wednesday 4, with waves up to 3.0 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 4.4 ft.

More about Tairua today

Waves near Tairua

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 7.2 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 10:13 pm (local time).

Spotted a mistake? Tell us · Where the weather and sea data come from