Waves in Ballstad

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Thursday, October 29, at 12:38 am (CET)

Now · significant height 15 ft

Sea state: Very rough · Douglas 6
Period: 9.8 s · SW
Swell: 5.8 ft · 13 s
Highest expected: 31 ft

Today the sea at Ballstad is very rough: 15 ft waves with a period of 9.8 s from the southwest. The swell, 5.8 ft at 13 s, comes from the west-southwest.

Wave height, next 7 days

5.01015 ft 15 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 common7.7 ft
Significant15 ft
Highest expected31 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 31 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 31 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	8.2 ft–13.1 ft
6	Very rough · today	13.1 ft–19.7 ft
7	High	19.7 ft–29.5 ft
8	Very high	29.5 ft–45.9 ft

Waves day by day

Day	Max wave	Sea state	Direction	Max period	Swell	Max wind
Today	15 ft	Very rough	SW	10 s	9.6 ft SW	25 mph SSW
Fri 30	7.1 ft	Moderate	SW	10 s	7.0 ft SW	17 mph SW
Sat 31	7.7 ft	Moderate	SW	8 s	5.7 ft SW	19 mph SW
Sun 1	5.6 ft	Moderate	WSW	8 s	4.4 ft WSW	13 mph WSW
Mon 2	5.4 ft	Moderate	WSW	7 s	3.9 ft WSW	22 mph W
Tue 3	5.5 ft	Moderate	WSW	8 s	3.3 ft WSW	22 mph NW
Wed 4	6.2 ft	Moderate	WSW	8 s	5.1 ft WSW	19 mph WSW

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	15 ft	15 ft	15 ft	14 ft	13 ft	11 ft	9.1 ft	7.9 ft
Period	9.8 s	9.7 s	9.5 s	9.4 s	9.4 s	9.6 s	10.0 s	10.2 s
Direction	SW	SW	SW	SW	SW	SW	SW	SW
Swell	5.8 ft · 13 s	5.3 ft · 13 s	5.6 ft · 11 s	7.2 ft · 10 s	7.7 ft · 11 s	9.0 ft · 9 s	8.8 ft · 9 s	7.7 ft · 9 s
Wind (mph)	25 SSW	24 SSW	20 SSW	19 SSW	17 SSW	4 SSW	1 WNW	3 WNW

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	16 ft SW	10 s	6.9 ft SW
Tue 27	4.9 ft SW	9 s	4.3 ft SW
Mon 26	4.9 ft S	11 s	3.3 ft SW
Sun 25	4.9 ft SSE	6 s	2.0 ft SW
Sat 24	5.2 ft SSW	7 s	3.6 ft SW
Fri 23	4.6 ft SSE	6 s	2.6 ft SW
Thu 22	5.9 ft S	8 s	3.9 ft SW

Show all 14 days

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Wed 21	6.6 ft SW	11 s	6.6 ft WSW
Tue 20	13 ft SW	11 s	7.2 ft WSW
Mon 19	18 ft SW	10 s	5.6 ft W
Sun 18	11 ft SW	9 s	3.9 ft WSW
Sat 17	7.5 ft WSW	9 s	6.6 ft WSW
Fri 16	18 ft SW	11 s	9.2 ft WSW
Thu 15	18 ft SW	11 s	8.9 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 BallstadQuestions

How are the waves today in Ballstad?

Very rough (15 ft with a period of 9.8 s from the southwest). The highest wave to expect is around 31 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Thursday 29, with waves up to 15 ft (very 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 31 ft.

More about Ballstad today

Waves near Ballstad

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 8.0 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 12:38 am (local time).

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