West Sea Otter
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
9.5 ft
2.9 m
- Dominant period
- 9 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: 9.5 ft at 9 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 tracked the buoy within 10%.
| Day | Height | Peak period | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov 13 | 17.5 ft | 17 s | SW |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 18.2 ft | 9.2 s | SSE |
| Sun, Nov 15 | 20.1 ft | 15 s | WSW |
| Mon, Nov 16 | 20.1 ft | 15 s | WSW |
| Tue, Nov 17 | 17.3 ft | 8.7 s | S |
| Wed, Nov 18 | 13.6 ft | 11 s | SSW |
| Thu, Nov 19 | 11.4 ft | 10 s | SW |
ECMWF WAM wave model via Open-Meteo, nearest model cell (51.500°N, 128.750°W). Both lines are significant wave height at sea, the same measure the buoy reports. Model output, not a Quiver beach forecast.
Nearby buoys
- East Dellwood11.5 ft · 9 sStale · 98 km
- South Hecate Strait7.9 ft · 8 sStale · 135 km
- South Moresby11.8 ft · 9 sStale · 176 km
- South Brooks13.8 ft · 8 sStale · 188 km
- Nanakwa Shoal0.0 ft · 3 sStale · 272 km
- North Hecate Strait4.9 ft · 7 sStale · 295 km
Other readings
- Water temperature
- 51°F (10.8°C)
- Wind
- 25 kt from the ESE, gusts 31 kt
- Air temperature
- 53°F (11.8°C)
- Pressure
- 991.3 hPa
Reported Nov 12, 6:00 PM PDT.
How to read this buoy
Biggest hourly reading in that record: 15.7 ft at 11 s on Nov 11.
- Station id
- 46204
- Operator
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Program
- International Partners
- Position
- 51.380°N, 128.770°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.
