Registered or Premium Member? LOG IN  |  Not a Premium Member? TRY PREMIUM FREE NOW 
--->

(Previous) 03/23/2006 (Next)
Fun...Fun...Island Waves.
The bluish lump marching towards the North Shore spells surf.
Continued below...
This weekend promises light winds with playful waves for the North and Northeast Shores as two swells overlap.

What you're seeing in the animation is the ground swell filter. As discussed in the last Hot Spot, we employ these to rid the visual of short periods we don't care about (unless the Gulf of Mex is your home and that's all you got!).

So the question is: how do we know which filter to use?

Understand that wave period is related to wind velocity and duration of these winds over a distance. We call this a fetch. With greater values of each of these elements, we expect higher periods -- and seas.

So, as a storm becomes larger and more powerful the swell's peak period creeps into higher period bands. Give these filters a whirl, and watch your understanding of waves grow.

This weekend's swell won't be large for North Shore standards, but warm water and overhead sets would put a smile on most of surfing humanity. Charlie Fox

Like what you see here? Want to get this type of detailed forecast information on a daily basis, for every major surf region on earth? Then SIGN UP NOW for a Surfline Premium Membership. (First month's free.)

WHAT IS LOLA?

LOLA is the world's only automated global surf forecasting tool. LOLA can forecast waves right down the street, or it can predict surf conditions at the top spots around the globe - breaks like Tavarua, Tahiti and Jeffrey's Bay.

LOLA uses the NOAA Wavewatch III engine (running on our own computers) with Surfline-modified data from various wind models (AVN, GFS, MRF). Then LOLA combines this information with empirical data we've programmed into her gained from over 30 years of surf and weather analysis here at Surfline.

LOLA also gathers real-time data from offshore buoys to measure wave pulses from storms around the world every hour. She taps into orbiting satellites to measure hurricane-force winds and tremendous wave heights in the heart of raging storms when huge ships are running for cover. She computes near-shore wave animations measuring detailed wave heights along the coast, taking into account how swells are distorted by offshore islands and the continental shelf.

When you add it all up, LOLA is the ultimate forecasting tool for surfers looking for timely, accurate and comprehensive information about waves.

Initially, we created LOLA as a proprietary tool for Surfline forecasters. But we decided to share the knowledge and give Surfline's Premium Members the chance to use LOLA themselves, to give them the best chance to score more good surf more often.

Not a Premium Member? Then CLICK HERE for a free LOLA demo.

If you are already a Premium Member, please proceed straight to the LOLA home page.