Santa Monica Bay, CA
California, United States
Last wave reading:
Now at the buoy
Significant wave height at the buoy
4.6 ft
1.4 m
- Dominant period
- 17 s
- Direction
- from W 264°
Swell
3.6 ft1.1 m
17 sfrom W 270°
Wind waves
2.6 ft0.8 m
9.1 sfrom WSW 248°
Long-period groundswell leads: 3.6 ft at 17 s from the W, with 2.6 ft of wind waves at 9.1 s from the WSW on top. Building over the last 6 hours, up 0.7 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 21% high against the buoy.
| Day | Height | Peak period | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 13 | 7.3 ft | 12 s | WSW |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 8.7 ft | 17 s | W |
| Sun, Nov 15 | 8.1 ft | 16 s | W |
| Mon, Nov 16 | 8.3 ft | 13 s | W |
| Tue, Nov 17 | 8.3 ft | 12 s | W |
| Wed, Nov 18 | 5.8 ft | 9.2 s | W |
| Thu, Nov 19 | 4.7 ft | 6.3 s | W |
ECMWF WAM wave model via Open-Meteo, nearest model cell (33.750°N, 118.750°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
- Malibu Third Point19 km
Quiver forecast now: 2-3ft
- Manhattan Beach Pier21 km
Quiver forecast now: 3-4ft
- Hermosa Beach Pier22 km
Quiver forecast now: 3-4ft
- Hermosa Pier22 km
Quiver forecast now: 3-4ft
Beach numbers are each beach's own Quiver forecast, not a conversion of this buoy reading.
Nearby buoys
- Topanga Nearshore, CA2.6 ft · 13 sLive · 19 km
- San Pedro, CA4.3 ft · 15 sLive · 41 km
- Santa Monica Basin - 33NM WSW of Santa Monica, CA4.9 ftLive · 42 km
- Long Beach Channel, CA3.0 ft · 13 sLive · 44 km
- San Pedro South, CA3.6 ft · 13 sLive · 53 km
- Santa Cruz Basin, CA5.6 ft · 14 sLive · 86 km
Nearest tide station: El Segundo, Santa Monica Bay 20 km for today’s highs and lows.
Other readings
- Water temperature
- 74°F (23.5°C)
Reported Nov 13, 2:26 AM PST.
How to read this buoy
Santa Monica Bay, CA sits 19 km from the closest beach listed here: near enough to show what is arriving, far enough that islands, points and the seabed still change it before it breaks.
Over the readings shown here, most wave energy reached this buoy from the S, SW and W.
Biggest hourly reading in that record: 7.2 ft at 11 s on Nov 1.
- Station id
- 46221
- CDIP id
- 028
- Operator
- SCRIPPS
- Program
- IOOS Partners
- Position
- 33.860°N, 118.641°W
- Type
- Moored buoy
- Local time zone
- America/Los_Angeles
- Swell split
- Yes, swell and wind waves reported
Source: NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC); station operated by SCRIPPS. 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.
