Duck FRF, NC
North Carolina, United States
Last wave reading:
Now at the buoy
Significant wave height at the buoy
2.0 ft
0.6 m
- Dominant period
- 3 s
- Direction
- from N 0°
Swell
0.3 ft0.1 m
10 sfrom E 90°
Wind waves
2.0 ft0.6 m
3.5 sfrom N 0°
Wind waves lead: 2.0 ft at 3.5 s from the N, over 0.3 ft of mid-period swell at 10 s from the E. Building over the last 6 hours, up 0.5 ft.
Significant wave height is the average of the biggest third of waves at the buoy. It is not surf height at a beach.
Trend at the buoy
Height at the buoy
- Total (significant height)
- Swell
- Wind waves
Period
- Swell period
- Wind-wave period
Hourly means of the buoy's readings. Arrows point the way the waves travel.
Model vs the buoy
- Buoy, hourly
- Model, past days
- Model forecast
Over the last 5 days, the model ran 17% low against the buoy.
| Day | Height | Peak period | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 13 | 2.9 ft | 5.7 s | N |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 4.4 ft | 6.2 s | N |
| Sun, Nov 15 | 3.0 ft | 4.8 s | N |
| Mon, Nov 16 | 3.3 ft | 5.6 s | NNE |
| Tue, Nov 17 | 2.3 ft | 5.1 s | NNE |
| Wed, Nov 18 | 1.6 ft | 4.1 s | NE |
| Thu, Nov 19 | 1.0 ft | 4.6 s | NE |
ECMWF WAM wave model via Open-Meteo, nearest model cell (36.250°N, 75.750°W). Both lines are significant wave height at sea, the same measure the buoy reports. Model output, not a Quiver beach forecast.
Nearby beaches
Listed by distance only. Their Quiver forecasts are not linked to this buoy.
- Kitty Hawk Pier11 km
Quiver forecast now: 0-1ft
- Bennett Street12 km
Quiver forecast now: 0-1ft
- Eckner Street12 km
Quiver forecast now: 0-1ft
Quiver forecast now: 0-1ft
- 3rd Street19 km
Quiver forecast now: 0-1ft
- Avalon Pier19 km
Quiver forecast now: 0-1ft
- Kill Devil Hills20 km
Quiver forecast now: 0-1ft
- Bath House21 km
Quiver forecast now: 0-1ft
- Corolla22 km
Quiver forecast now: 0-1ft
- Abalone Street25 km
Quiver forecast now: 0-1ft
Beach numbers are each beach's own Quiver forecast, not a conversion of this buoy reading.
Nearby buoys
- Duck FRF 26m, NC3.6 ft · 4 sLive · 13 km
- Nags Head, NC3.9 ft · 4 sLive · 34 km
- Oregon Inlet, NC4.6 ft · 8 sLive · 61 km
- Cape Henry, VA3.0 ft · 4 sLive · 80 km
- OOI Pioneer - Mid-Atlantic Bight Northern Surface Mooring6.2 ftLive · 80 km
- Virginia Beach 64 NM East of Virginia Beach, VA6.2 ft · 6 sLive · 90 km
Nearest tide station: Duck Pier 3 km for today’s highs and lows.
Other readings
- Water temperature
- 64°F (17.5°C)
- Air temperature
- 55°F (12.7°C)
Reported Nov 13, 3:00 AM EST.
How to read this buoy
Duck FRF, NC sits close to shore, 11 km from the closest beach listed here. Its readings already include some of the local shadowing, so they track nearby beaches more closely than an offshore buoy.
Over the readings shown here, most wave energy reached this buoy from the E.
Biggest hourly reading in that record: 12.3 ft at 13 s on Oct 19.
- Station id
- 44056
- Operator
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- Program
- IOOS Partners
- Position
- 36.200°N, 75.714°W
- Type
- Moored buoy
- Local time zone
- America/New_York
- Swell split
- Yes, swell and wind waves reported
Source: NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC); station operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Licence: Public domain (US government work). Station page at the source.
Not for navigation. Readings can be late, missing or wrong; check official marine forecasts before going to sea.
Buoy terms
- Significant height
- The average of the biggest third of waves the buoy measured. Sets in the surf zone can be bigger or smaller.
- Dominant period
- Seconds between the waves carrying the most energy. Longer period means more power and more bend around points.
- Swell vs wind waves
- Swell was made by distant wind; wind waves were made nearby. The buoy splits its spectrum at a cutoff period to report each.
- Direction
- Where waves come from, in degrees true. 270° is from the west.
