Orange Beach - 44 NM SE of Mobile, AL
Alabama, United States
Last wave reading:
Now at the buoy
Significant wave height at the buoy
2.3 ft
0.7 m
- Dominant period
- —
- Direction
- from N 354°
Swell
0.3 ft0.1 m
7.1 sfrom SSE 158°
Wind waves
2.3 ft0.7 m
3.4 sfrom N 0°
Wind waves lead: 2.3 ft at 3.4 s from the N, over 0.3 ft of short-period swell at 7.1 s from the SSE. Holding steady over the last 6 hours.
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 tracked the buoy within 10%.
| Day | Height | Peak period | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 13 | 3.3 ft | 4.3 s | N |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 3.7 ft | 4.6 s | NE |
| Sun, Nov 15 | 3.3 ft | 4.9 s | E |
| Mon, Nov 16 | 7.4 ft | 6.2 s | E |
| Tue, Nov 17 | 7.5 ft | 7.4 s | ESE |
| Wed, Nov 18 | 7.2 ft | 7.2 s | ESE |
| Thu, Nov 19 | 6.8 ft | 7.1 s | ESE |
ECMWF WAM wave model via Open-Meteo, nearest model cell (30.000°N, 87.500°W). Both lines are significant wave height at sea, the same measure the buoy reports. Model output, not a Quiver beach forecast.
Beaches whose Quiver forecast uses this buoy
- Pensacola Pier49 km
Quiver forecast now: 0-1ft
Beach numbers are each beach's own Quiver forecast, not a conversion of this buoy reading.
Nearby buoys
- DISL Sofar Spotter2.3 ft · 3 sStale · 64 km
- Chandeleur Island SE, LA3.0 ft · 4 sLive · 119 km
- MS_State_SPOT_33439C - Biloxi Spotter - Mississippi Sound0.7 ftLive · 126 km
- MS_State_SPOT_33441C - Gulfport Spotter - Mississippi Sound1.0 ft · 2 sLive · 140 km
- Pensacola - 115NM SSE of Pensacola, FL3.6 ft · 5 sLive · 206 km
- Southwest Pass Entrance W, LA3.3 ft · 6 sStale · 236 km
Nearest tide station: Gulf State Park Pier 24 km for today’s highs and lows.
How to read this buoy
Orange Beach - 44 NM SE of Mobile, AL sits in open water, 49 km from the closest beach listed here. It sees swell before the coast bends, blocks or shrinks it, so expect beach surf to differ from this reading.
Over the readings shown here, most wave energy reached this buoy from the SE and S.
Biggest hourly reading in that record: 7.7 ft at 7.5 s on Oct 18.
- Station id
- 42012
- Operator
- NDBC
- Program
- NDBC Meteorological/Ocean
- Position
- 30.061°N, 87.547°W
- Type
- Moored buoy
- Local time zone
- GMT-6 (open ocean)
- Swell split
- Yes, swell and wind waves reported
Source: NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC). 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.
