Potomac, MD
Maryland, United States
Last wave reading:
Now at the buoy
Significant wave height at the buoy
2.6 ft
0.8 m
- Dominant period
- 4 s
- Direction
- no direction
This station does not send a swell and wind-wave split, so the numbers are for the whole sea.
Short-period wind chop: 2.6 ft at 4 s. Building over the last 6 hours, up 0.8 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)
Period
- Dominant 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 4 days, the model ran 14% high against the buoy.
| Day | Height | Peak period | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 13 | 3.5 ft | 4.3 s | NW |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 3.7 ft | 4.4 s | NW |
| Sun, Nov 15 | 2.9 ft | 4 s | NNW |
| Mon, Nov 16 | 2.6 ft | 3.8 s | N |
| Tue, Nov 17 | 0.8 ft | 2.3 s | NNW |
| Wed, Nov 18 | 0.5 ft | 2 s | WNW |
| Thu, Nov 19 | 0.4 ft | 1.8 s | W |
ECMWF WAM wave model via Open-Meteo, nearest model cell (38.000°N, 76.250°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
Quiver forecast now: 1-2ft
Beach numbers are each beach's own Quiver forecast, not a conversion of this buoy reading.
Nearby buoys
- Stingray Point, VA2.0 ft · 3 sLive · 52 km
- Gooses Reef, MD1.0 ft · 6 sLive · 59 km
- York Spit, VA2.0 ft · 16 sLive · 93 km
- Annapolis, MD1.0 ft · 2 sLive · 104 km
- Thimble Shoal, VA2.0 ft · 3 sLive · 112 km
- Bethany Beach, DE1.6 ft · 7 sLive · 126 km
Nearest tide station: Point Lookout 1 km for today’s highs and lows.
Other readings
- Water temperature
- 61°F (16.1°C)
- Wind
- 23 kt from the NW, gusts 29 kt
- Air temperature
- 52°F (11.2°C)
Reported Nov 13, 2:48 AM EST.
How to read this buoy
Potomac, MD sits in open water, 88 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.
Biggest hourly reading in that record: 2.5 ft at 4 s on Nov 13.
- Station id
- 44042
- Operator
- Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS)
- Program
- IOOS Partners
- Position
- 38.033°N, 76.335°W
- Type
- Moored buoy
- Local time zone
- America/New_York
- Swell split
- No, whole-sea numbers only
Source: NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC); station operated by Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS). 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.
