|
When used in combination, the following links will give a pretty good indication of current and near-future weather and wave conditions on the Oregon coast. (If you are new to surfing, go to the Surfing101 page for some forecasting tips.)
NOAA WaveWatch III - Significant Wave Height model
The graphic below is a forecast model for significant wave height over the next seven days. Note the scale is in meters. To see the image loop again, you'll have to reload this page in your browser. Click on the image to go to the the NOAA WaveWatch III viewer. You can control the speed of the loop, select different models (swell height, etc) and other very cool stuff.
Coastal Waters Forecast from the Nat. Weather Service
North Oregon report displayed below (if your browser supports iFrames). Here's the S Oregon report (Florence, OR to Point St. George, CA). If you don't see the report below, here's the link: N Oregon report (Cape Shoalwater, WA to Florence, OR)
Pacific Northwest Buoys
Moored buoys (ranging from 5-60 NM from shore) give data updated hourly on wind speed and direction, wave height, wave period, water and air temperatures, and more. C-MAN land stations are good for wind and tempature info. Checking buoys farther out to sea can give an indication of what is coming our way. Click here for the WA, OR and northern CA buoy map, or use these quick links to Oregon's buoys:
Tide Predictions
Go here for a basic tide table, or here for tide prediction graphs for the next few days on the Oregon coast. You should also get yourself one of the little printed tide books found at surf shops and other stores on the coast. They are super convenient to pack in your surf bag and/or glove box of your car.
Sea Surface Temperatures
If you have the luxury of choosing between a 5/3 or a 4/3, checking the surface temps might help you decide which one to pack to the beach on any given day. Sea surface temps can easliy swing 5° or more daily depending on the prevailing winds and currents. Contrary to what you might suspect, it is often warmer up north than down south. Go here for NOAA's Pacific NW sea temp map. The graphic isn't very nice, but temperature bands are pretty specific (10º C = 50º F). The moored buoys also report water temperature (see links above). Go here for a nice map of sea surface temps worldwide.
One-Stop Forecasting
The following sites do a great job of culling data from a variety of sources and presenting it in a surfer-friendly format:
MagicSeaweed.com This is a FREE, user-driven surf forecasting service. These blokes from the U.K. download an enormous amount of surf and weather related data (every few minutes) to create their own forecasts, graphs and charts designed specifically for surfers. Click here for the Oregon section.
Oregonsurfcheck.com also collects data from many sources to provide a simple weather and wave report/forecast.
|
