Waves in Galveston

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Wednesday, October 28, at 6:54 pm (CDT)

Now · significant height 2.2 ft

Sea state: Slight · Douglas 3
Period: 4.2 s · ESE
Swell: 1.4 ft · 4 s
Highest expected: 4.6 ft

Today the sea at Galveston is slight: 2.2 ft waves with a period of 4.2 s from the east-southeast. The swell, 1.4 ft at 4 s, comes from the southeast. Biggest waves: Monday 2, with waves up to 3.1 ft (slight).

Wave height, next 7 days

1.02.03.0 ft 3.1 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 common1.1 ft
Significant2.2 ft
Highest expected4.6 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 4.6 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 4.6 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	SE	4 s	2.0 ft SE	13 mph ESE
Thu 29	2.0 ft	Slight	ESE	4 s	1.5 ft SE	11 mph ESE
Fri 30	2.6 ft	Slight	ESE	4 s	2.0 ft SE	13 mph E
Sat 31	2.3 ft	Slight	ESE	4 s	1.8 ft SE	9 mph E
Sun 1	2.0 ft	Slight	ESE	4 s	1.6 ft SE	8 mph E
Mon 2	3.1 ft	Slight	ESE	4 s	1.7 ft ESE	11 mph SE
Tue 3	2.8 ft	Slight	SSE	4 s	1.9 ft ESE	13 mph S

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	2.4 ft	2.5 ft	2.6 ft	2.6 ft	2.4 ft	2.3 ft	2.2 ft	2.1 ft
Period	4.5 s	4.4 s	4.3 s	4.3 s	4.4 s	4.3 s	4.2 s	4.1 s
Direction	ESE	ESE	SE	SE	SE	SE	SE	SE
Swell	1.6 ft · 5 s	1.4 ft · 5 s	1.4 ft · 5 s	1.6 ft · 5 s	1.9 ft · 4 s	1.8 ft · 4 s	1.5 ft · 4 s	1.3 ft · 4 s
Wind (mph)	8 ESE	8 ESE	10 ESE	12 ESE	13 ESE	12 E	9 SE	9 ESE

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	5 s	2.3 ft SE
Mon 26	2.6 ft ESE	5 s	2.0 ft SE
Sun 25	3.0 ft ESE	4 s	2.0 ft SE
Sat 24	2.3 ft SE	5 s	1.3 ft SE
Fri 23	1.0 ft SE	5 s	1.0 ft SE
Thu 22	2.0 ft SE	6 s	2.0 ft SE
Wed 21	3.0 ft ESE	6 s	2.6 ft SE

Show all 14 days

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Tue 20	3.6 ft E	6 s	2.6 ft ESE
Mon 19	3.3 ft E	5 s	2.3 ft ESE
Sun 18	2.3 ft ENE	5 s	1.3 ft E
Sat 17	5.2 ft NNE	5 s	1.0 ft ESE
Fri 16	4.3 ft ENE	5 s	2.3 ft SE
Thu 15	2.6 ft SE	4 s	2.0 ft SSE
Wed 14	3.0 ft SSE	4 s	2.0 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 GalvestonQuestions

How are the waves today in Galveston?

Slight (2.2 ft with a period of 4.2 s from the east-southeast). The highest wave to expect is around 4.6 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Monday 2, with waves up to 3.1 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 4.6 ft.

More about Galveston today

Waves near Galveston

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 0.8 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 6:54 pm (local time).

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