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(Previous) 09/11/2006 (Next)
LOLA Buoys.
So I'm sure you're all geared up for winter and the arrival of larger and more consistent surf (especially you Northern California guys). How about a quick refresher course on tracking W and NW swells?
Continued below...
After pouring over the charts, models and sat photos on the latest spinner in the Gulf of Alaska, the network of offshore buoys are an excellent way to verrify the arrival of W or NW swells. The SW Astoria buoy (often referred to as buoy 6) shown here is roughly a day to day and a half indicator of swell for Northern California, while it generally takes two days for swell at buoy 6 to reach Southern California. The swell buildin on buoy 6 now will fill into Northern California over the next day or two, but will generally pass Southern California right by.

An advantage to using the LOLA buoys versus those found on the NOAA site, is that you get a three day trend which allows you to see if a swell is building or fading, and also breaks differing swells down by size and period.

-Kevin Wallis

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.