freeclimb9 Posted November 5, 2002 Share Posted November 5, 2002 It's building fast. Check the forecast: http://www.surfermag.com/forecasts/west/ Scary big. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_W Posted November 5, 2002 Share Posted November 5, 2002 11/8, 10a.m. in Coos Bay, OR - 27-55' Can someone teach me to surf by Friday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeadam Posted November 5, 2002 Share Posted November 5, 2002 How can they predict a 30 foot swell 5 days in advance? Past geometry? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted November 5, 2002 Share Posted November 5, 2002 quote: Originally posted by mikeadam: How can they predict a 30 foot swell 5 days in advance? Past geometry? Maybe some fat chick is going to jump in the water on the other side of the ocean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_W Posted November 5, 2002 Share Posted November 5, 2002 quote: Originally posted by mikeadam: How can they predict a 30 foot swell 5 days in advance? Past geometry? I think it has to do with wind patterns and weather in the ocean to the West (or SouthWest). Most of those waves are wind-driven, I think. There was some great info. on wave science in "The Perfect Storm" by Sebastian Junger; a good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeclimb9 Posted November 5, 2002 Author Share Posted November 5, 2002 quote: Originally posted by mikeadam: How can they predict a 30 foot swell 5 days in advance? Past geometry? By using a Wave Analysis Model. This empirically based modeling is old hat --developed in the eighties-- and uses data from swell buoys throughout the world's oceans for input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 5, 2002 Share Posted November 5, 2002 they have some moored bouys pretty far out at sea that measure swell height and period Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeclimb9 Posted November 5, 2002 Author Share Posted November 5, 2002 Check out http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/ if you want to see where the data buoys are. There's plenty of 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juneriver Posted November 5, 2002 Share Posted November 5, 2002 I was planning on paddling out this weekend... but now I'm scared. Â Dem is some big waves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beck Posted November 5, 2002 Share Posted November 5, 2002 TSUNAMI! me and some buds were surfing lake superior years ago, at one of our city point breaks, 4-6' that day, and watched two kids dissapear, no 27' -55' swells on the lake, though...that's hella huge- The only surfing I'd be doing in them waves would be lashed to a crash boat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muir_on_Saturday Posted November 5, 2002 Share Posted November 5, 2002 are those waves related to the alaskan earthquake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk Posted November 5, 2002 Share Posted November 5, 2002 I know nothing, But I would bet the waves have more to do with the nasty weather system that is moving in than the earth quake... the quake was inland wasn't it???? If there was a nasty quake out at sea, then I can see the waves rolling in big and nasty because of the quake... but then what the fuck do I know???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothrop Posted November 5, 2002 Share Posted November 5, 2002 I would think that waves relating directly to the earthquake event would reach our coast at nearly the same time as the ground-shaking that some people felt. Lake Union houseboats were shaken yesterday a few minutes after the Alaska quake. Â My girlfriend was in Anchorage and wasn't impressed by the quake, though the room did sway for almost a minute, she said. It would have been interesting to be climbing in Denali Nat'l Park that afternoon, though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle_Tricky Posted November 5, 2002 Share Posted November 5, 2002 Yeah, waves are basically a product of three things, wind speed, wind duration, and the fetch, which is the distance the wind blows over the water. Â Wind waves are waves created by local wind conditions, and generally have short period (up to roughly ten seconds.) Swells are waves that have traveled outside the windy area in which they were created, so all the shoppy crappy wind waves die out, and you are left with clean long period (usually 10-20 seconds, but sometimes longer, such as in the case of tsunamis, which might have a wave period measured in minutes. Â An analogy that works for me is this: Have you ever tried to fall asleep in a house where someone is playing music in another room? All you can hear is that base, because the short period wave energy (treble or wind waves) is weak and dies out, but bass (or swell) has a longer wave period, so the sound carries much further from the place where it was created. Â If you're surfing, you generally want swells that were created far away and have had time to clean up into long period waves and organize themselves into sets, not stormy victory-at-sea type conditions, though those can work some places. Â When it's 30 feet out at the ocean and coming down the strait of juan de fuca at just the right angle, it's possible to surf fun shoulder to head high ocean swells on Whidbey Island. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fence_Sitter Posted November 6, 2002 Share Posted November 6, 2002 who wants to go to tefino!?!? yah...mabe cold, but it is the best surfing north of sacremento! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle_Tricky Posted November 6, 2002 Share Posted November 6, 2002 Also, the longer the wave period, the faster the wave. In the case of an earthquake, the tsunamis that may be created are very long period waves, and they travel very fast. Any tsunami effect from a quake in Alaska would be seen here in a matter or minutes or hours, not days. Â I've got a web page that has links to some neat graphics. Click on "Pacific wave heights and directions" for images of current and forecasted wave height and direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COL._Von_Spanker Posted November 6, 2002 Share Posted November 6, 2002 I'll be surfin' n LA in two weeks. Oh yeah baby...... Â And I'll also be eatin' turkey and climbin' at Jtree. Â oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeclimb9 Posted November 6, 2002 Author Share Posted November 6, 2002 quote: Originally posted by COL. Von Spanker: I'll be surfin' n LA in two weeks. Oh yeah baby...... Â Cool, dude. The E. Coli and Staph bacterium levels spike from the expected rain should be subsiding by then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COL._Von_Spanker Posted November 6, 2002 Share Posted November 6, 2002 quote: Originally posted by freeclimb9: quote:Originally posted by COL. Von Spanker: I'll be surfin' n LA in two weeks. Oh yeah baby...... Â Cool, dude. The E. Coli and Staph bacterium levels spike from the expected rain should be subsiding by then. Damn that sucks. I wanted some ecoli. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fence_Sitter Posted November 6, 2002 Share Posted November 6, 2002 Col. have you ever surfed tefino...you should come on up adn brind a 1/2 dz. wetsuits to stack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeclimb9 Posted November 6, 2002 Author Share Posted November 6, 2002 quote: Originally posted by JayB: The way I'm reading the surf forecasts for 11/8 is looks like they're predicting 50-60 foot faces on the waves for a few hours. Is that for real? Or did I just misread the data in a massive way? Jay, it could be epic, but I don't know about 50-60 wave faces. A lot of that depends on topography relative to swell direction. The surfer reports are saying it'll be the biggest it's been in years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle_Tricky Posted November 6, 2002 Share Posted November 6, 2002 Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeclimb9 Posted November 7, 2002 Author Share Posted November 7, 2002 It's big in Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Real big. http://www.stormsurf.com/page2/links/orsrprt.shtml All the big guns are poised for some serious riding in the next few days. Anybody able to check out the surf? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offwidthclimber Posted November 7, 2002 Share Posted November 7, 2002 okay, so i'm fascinated by science and i'm bored... Â looks like it's getting big quick. http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.phtml?station=46006 Â this station was reporting 40 foot waves at 12:15 am, thursday, nov. 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle_Tricky Posted November 7, 2002 Share Posted November 7, 2002 Kinda suprising, but the water is often warmer off Tofino and the W. coast of Vancouver Island than it is off the Washington or Oregon coasts. Typically happens in late summer and early fall when prevailing N/NW winds causes upwelling off headlands and cools the Japanese current as it goes down the West coast. Often the water temps as far South as Santa Cruz are about the same as up here. Â [ 11-06-2002, 12:50 PM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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