TidePlanet

Waves in Seadrift

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Thursday, October 29, at 1:25 am (CDT)
Now · significant height 1.3 ft
Sea state
Smooth · Douglas 2
Period
3.5 s · ESE
Swell
0.8 ft · 3 s
Highest expected
2.9 ft

Today the sea at Seadrift is smooth: 1.3 ft waves with a period of 3.5 s from the east-southeast. The swell, 0.8 ft at 3 s, comes from the southeast. Biggest waves: Tuesday 3, with waves up to 2.2 ft (slight).

Wave height, next 7 days

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 common0.7 ft
  • Significant1.3 ft
  • Highest expected2.9 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 2.9 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 2.9 ft.

The Douglas sea state scale

DegreeNameWave height
0 Calm (glassy) 0
1 Calm (rippled) 0.0 ft–0.3 ft
2 Smooth · today 0.3 ft–1.6 ft
3 Slight · week peak 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 1.5 ft Smooth ESE 4 s 0.9 ft SE 13 mph ESE
Fri 30 1.4 ft Smooth SE 4 s 0.8 ft SE 11 mph E
Sat 31 0.8 ft Smooth ESE 4 s 0.6 ft SE 7 mph E
Sun 1 0.7 ft Smooth ESE 4 s 0.6 ft ESE 8 mph E
Mon 2 1.8 ft Slight SE 3 s 0.7 ft ESE 12 mph SSE
Tue 3 2.2 ft Slight SSE 4 s 1.1 ft SE 14 mph SSW
Wed 4 1.2 ft Smooth WSW 4 s 0.8 ft SSE 12 mph NW

Today, every 3 hours

Time 12:00 am3:00 am6:00 am9:00 am12:00 pm3:00 pm6:00 pm9:00 pm
Waves 1.4 ft1.3 ft1.2 ft1.0 ft1.2 ft1.3 ft1.4 ft1.4 ft
Period 3.5 s3.7 s3.9 s3.8 s3.4 s3.2 s3.2 s3.2 s
Direction ESESESESESEESEESEESE
Swell 0.7 ft · 4 s0.8 ft · 3 s0.8 ft · 4 s0.7 ft · 4 s0.6 ft · 4 s0.5 ft · 4 s0.5 ft · 4 s0.6 ft · 4 s
Wind (mph) 4 E4 E5 E4 E12 ESE13 ESE11 ESE8 E

Previous days

The waves over the last 14 days. Tap a day to see it hour by hour.

DayMax wavePeriodSwell
Wed 28 1.3 ft ESE4 s0.7 ft ESE
Tue 27 1.3 ft ESE4 s1.0 ft ESE
Mon 26 1.6 ft ESE4 s1.0 ft ESE
Sun 25 1.6 ft ESE4 s1.3 ft SE
Sat 24 1.6 ft SE4 s1.0 ft SE
Fri 23 1.0 ft ESE4 s0.7 ft SE
Thu 22 1.3 ft ESE5 s1.0 ft ESE
Show all 14 days
DayMax wavePeriodSwell
Wed 21 2.0 ft E6 s1.3 ft ESE
Tue 20 1.3 ft ESE6 s1.0 ft ESE
Mon 19 1.3 ft ESE6 s1.0 ft ESE
Sun 18 1.0 ft E6 s0.7 ft ESE
Sat 17 2.3 ft NNE4 s0.3 ft ESE
Fri 16 2.6 ft NNE5 s1.0 ft SE
Thu 15 2.0 ft SE5 s1.3 ft SE

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 SeadriftQuestions

How are the waves today in Seadrift?

Smooth (1.3 ft with a period of 3.5 s from the east-southeast). The highest wave to expect is around 2.9 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Tuesday 3, with waves up to 2.2 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 2.9 ft.

More about Seadrift today

Waves near Seadrift

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 2.8 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 1:25 am (local time).

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