Waves in West Ocean City

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Wednesday, October 28, at 7:04 pm (EDT)

Now · significant height 2.4 ft

Sea state: Slight · Douglas 3
Period: 6.4 s · E
Swell: 2.2 ft · 6 s
Highest expected: 4.9 ft

Today the sea at West Ocean City is slight: 2.4 ft waves with a period of 6.4 s from the east. The swell, 2.2 ft at 6 s, comes from the east.

Wave height, next 7 days

1.02.03.0 ft 2.8 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 common1.2 ft
Significant2.4 ft
Highest expected4.9 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 4.9 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 4.9 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	2.8 ft	Slight	E	7 s	2.4 ft ESE	13 mph ENE
Thu 29	2.3 ft	Slight	ESE	7 s	2.3 ft ESE	6 mph ESE
Fri 30	2.0 ft	Slight	SE	8 s	2.0 ft SE	8 mph WNW
Sat 31	2.7 ft	Slight	E	7 s	1.8 ft E	11 mph NNE
Sun 1	1.6 ft	Smooth	ESE	7 s	1.2 ft ESE	6 mph ESE
Mon 2	1.4 ft	Smooth	SE	6 s	1.2 ft ESE	7 mph SE
Tue 3	1.4 ft	Smooth	ESE	7 s	0.9 ft ESE	12 mph ENE

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	2.8 ft	2.8 ft	2.7 ft	2.6 ft	2.4 ft	2.4 ft	2.4 ft	2.4 ft
Period	6.8 s	6.7 s	6.6 s	6.8 s	6.9 s	6.8 s	6.5 s	6.3 s
Direction	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E
Swell	2.0 ft · 8 s	2.0 ft · 8 s	1.9 ft · 8 s	1.8 ft · 8 s	1.8 ft · 8 s	2.0 ft · 7 s	2.2 ft · 6 s	2.3 ft · 6 s
Wind (mph)	9 ENE	9 ENE	9 ENE	10 NE	12 NE	7 E	7 E	6 E

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	3.0 ft ESE	9 s	2.3 ft ESE
Mon 26	3.0 ft E	10 s	2.3 ft ESE
Sun 25	3.3 ft E	9 s	2.6 ft E
Sat 24	5.2 ft E	9 s	3.9 ft E
Fri 23	4.6 ft ENE	9 s	3.9 ft ENE
Thu 22	5.6 ft ENE	11 s	5.6 ft ENE
Wed 21	6.6 ft ENE	11 s	6.6 ft ENE

Show all 14 days

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Tue 20	5.9 ft E	11 s	5.9 ft E
Mon 19	6.9 ft E	11 s	6.2 ft E
Sun 18	5.2 ft ENE	8 s	4.3 ft ENE
Sat 17	4.3 ft NE	6 s	2.3 ft E
Fri 16	2.6 ft ESE	7 s	2.0 ft E
Thu 15	3.0 ft E	7 s	2.0 ft ENE
Wed 14	2.0 ft SSE	7 s	1.3 ft SSE

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 West Ocean CityQuestions

How are the waves today in West Ocean City?

Slight (2.4 ft with a period of 6.4 s from the east). The highest wave to expect is around 4.9 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Wednesday 28, with waves up to 2.8 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 4.9 ft.

More about West Ocean City today

Waves near West Ocean City

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 8.6 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 7:04 pm (local time).

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