South Hecate Strait
Canada
Last wave reading:
Last reading
This reading is more than 3 hours old. The buoy may have stopped sending waves for now.
Significant wave height at the buoy
7.9 ft
2.4 m
- Dominant period
- 8 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 swell: 7.9 ft at 8 s.
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 day, the model ran 16% high against the buoy.
| Day | Height | Peak period | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 13 | 13.6 ft | 11 s | S |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 19.2 ft | 11 s | SSE |
| Sun, Nov 15 | 20.5 ft | 11 s | S |
| Mon, Nov 16 | 11.4 ft | 13 s | SSW |
| Tue, Nov 17 | 17.5 ft | 9.1 s | SSE |
| Wed, Nov 18 | 12.0 ft | 9.2 s | SSE |
| Thu, Nov 19 | 10.6 ft | 7.5 s | S |
ECMWF WAM wave model via Open-Meteo, nearest model cell (52.500°N, 129.750°W). Both lines are significant wave height at sea, the same measure the buoy reports. Model output, not a Quiver beach forecast.
Nearby buoys
- South Moresby11.8 ft · 9 sStale · 118 km
- West Sea Otter9.5 ft · 9 sStale · 135 km
- North Hecate Strait4.9 ft · 7 sStale · 160 km
- Nanakwa Shoal0.0 ft · 3 sStale · 169 km
- East Dellwood11.5 ft · 9 sStale · 173 km
- West Moresby11.8 ft · 9 sStale · 197 km
Other readings
- Water temperature
- 49°F (9.5°C)
- Wind
- 12 kt from the E, gusts 16 kt
- Air temperature
- 51°F (10.8°C)
- Pressure
- 989.4 hPa
Reported Nov 12, 8:00 PM PDT.
How to read this buoy
Biggest hourly reading in that record: 12.8 ft at 10 s on Nov 11.
- Station id
- 46185
- Operator
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Program
- International Partners
- Position
- 52.420°N, 129.790°W
- Type
- Moored buoy
- Local time zone
- America/Vancouver
- Swell split
- No, whole-sea numbers only
Source: NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC); station operated by Environment and Climate Change Canada. 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.
