Waves in Salinas

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Wednesday, October 28, at 8:30 pm (GMT-3)

Now · significant height 1.1 ft

Sea state: Smooth · Douglas 2
Period: 5.5 s · SE
Swell: 0.9 ft · 6 s
Highest expected: 2.3 ft

Today the sea at Salinas is smooth: 1.1 ft waves with a period of 5.5 s from the southeast. The swell, 0.9 ft at 6 s, comes from the south-southeast. Biggest waves: Tuesday 3, with waves up to 3.2 ft (slight).

Wave height, next 7 days

1.02.03.0 ft 3.2 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 common0.6 ft
Significant1.1 ft
Highest expected2.3 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 2.3 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 2.3 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 · 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	1.4 ft	Smooth	SE	6 s	1.0 ft SSE	9 mph SE
Thu 29	2.0 ft	Slight	SE	7 s	1.4 ft SE	10 mph ENE
Fri 30	1.9 ft	Slight	ESE	6 s	1.5 ft ESE	11 mph NE
Sat 31	1.6 ft	Smooth	ESE	5 s	1.4 ft ESE	12 mph ENE
Sun 1	1.5 ft	Smooth	ESE	5 s	1.4 ft ESE	11 mph NNE
Mon 2	1.2 ft	Smooth	SE	5 s	1.2 ft ESE	13 mph W
Tue 3	3.2 ft	Slight	ESE	4 s	1.7 ft SE	11 mph ESE

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	1.4 ft	1.2 ft	1.1 ft	1.0 ft	1.0 ft	1.0 ft	1.0 ft	1.1 ft
Period	5.3 s	5.7 s	6.0 s	6.1 s	6.2 s	6.2 s	6.0 s	5.4 s
Direction	SE	SE	SE	SE	SSE	SSE	SSE	SE
Swell	1.0 ft · 5 s	1.0 ft · 5 s	1.0 ft · 5 s	1.0 ft · 5 s	1.0 ft · 5 s	1.0 ft · 5 s	1.0 ft · 5 s	0.9 ft · 6 s
Wind (mph)	4 NE	3 NNE	2 NE	1 W	8 S	8 SSE	8 SE	5 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	1.6 ft SSE	6 s	1.6 ft SSE
Mon 26	3.0 ft SSE	6 s	2.3 ft SSE
Sun 25	4.6 ft SSE	6 s	3.0 ft SSE
Sat 24	7.5 ft SSE	7 s	5.2 ft S
Fri 23	2.0 ft ESE	6 s	1.6 ft ESE
Thu 22	2.6 ft ESE	6 s	2.0 ft ESE
Wed 21	3.3 ft ESE	7 s	2.0 ft ESE

Show all 14 days

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Tue 20	3.3 ft SE	8 s	2.3 ft SE
Mon 19	3.0 ft SE	8 s	2.6 ft SE
Sun 18	4.6 ft SSE	7 s	3.0 ft SSE
Sat 17	4.9 ft SSE	6 s	3.0 ft SSE
Fri 16	4.9 ft SSE	5 s	2.3 ft SE
Thu 15	3.6 ft SE	6 s	2.6 ft SE
Wed 14	2.6 ft SE	6 s	2.3 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 SalinasQuestions

How are the waves today in Salinas?

Smooth (1.1 ft with a period of 5.5 s from the southeast). The highest wave to expect is around 2.3 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Tuesday 3, with waves up to 3.2 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 2.3 ft.

More about Salinas today

Waves near Salinas

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 2.9 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 8:30 pm (local time).

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