Saturday, February 20, 2016

2 20 16 morning call

Morning surf was really fun.

In the photo report after the call, I posted shoulder high. The size of the waves I post is the size I guess when looking from the lookout, sometimes without waiting too long for a set if I have time constraints. So it can be inaccurate. It is also referred to the average size that I observe. So there will be waves bigger than what I post.

Yesterday, I called it a bit on the small size. I should have changed it into shoulder high + when I got out of the water, but I forgot. I still would have not called it head high, because the majority of the breakers were a little less that that and I I like to be on the conservative side.
In other words, my whateverbodypart high is a solid whateverbodypart high.
Photo by Jason Hall shows local grom Jackson Bunch looking for a cover up.


Looks like later on in the afternoon the waves got even a bit bigger. Photo by Jimmie Hepp


All buoys show a little NW pulse indicated by the red arrows.
At 4am Pauwela reads
4.2ft @ 8s from 52° (ENE)
3.1ft @ 14s from 327° (NW)
and I'm gonna guess that this time the size will be head high and really clean conditions.
Very crowded too.
Stay tuned for the photo report (or just text, sometimes the photo doesn't upload from the lookout) later.



Wind map shows that yesterday's NW fetch has kind of split in half. The part on the left is the one that is going to get closer to us and generate Monday's swell. The word "rough" appears three times on Pat Caldwell's discussion, so I guess we can count on the swell to be that.
Talking about beach erosion, our unfading Oahu forecaster, also explains what infa-gravity waves are:
The full spectrum of wave period bands from 10-20 seconds should be well elevated, making for less organized breakers. This would also allow a more frequent arrival pattern of the larger sets giving way to greater wave set-up, which is the pile up of nearshore sea level elevation due to wide swath of breakers from the outer reefs to the shore. Oceanographers refer to the pattern as infra-gravity waves that have about a 8-15 minute turn-around from peak to minimum then back to peak, a similar periodicity of the larger wave group arrivals. At the peak moments of the infra- gravity waves, individual breakers reach the shore and can push well landward of the mean coastline. The net result is well above average coastal wave run-up potential, which should begin pre dawn 2/22 with the highest tide, yet remain active even at lower tides on Monday because of the extreme surf. The peak of the run- up is likely near the afternoon high tide 2/22, coinciding with peak surf.


Local wind prediction shows pretty much no wind at 11am. Notice the temperature prediction nearing the 80's.

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