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wnyfisherman
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wnyfisherman

wnyfisherman

Posted
Posted

Does anyone have the home address of a noaa weather person?!? I'd personally like to pay them a visit and let them know what I think of their reporting skills. Seriously!!! Report: 1 to 2 foot waves= reality: 4 to 6 footers possibly a small craft advisory. (Out of sturgeon point anyhow this am) Don't they know we don't all live on the water and count on their advice??? Never again.

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Fired Up

Fired Up

Posted
Posted

Noaa measures waves with a buoy at "0" feet when the lake is completely calm. When the wind blows,-the buoy goes up and down ,- but it only measures the -"up".  We see waves with the up and down (trough). The buoy doesn't measure the down,- so we have to add that to their number. A 4 ft buoy wave is seen by us as about 7 feet. 

greenboatluke

greenboatluke

Posted
Posted

Good info thanks. Found a free buoy app "NOAA buoy data" closest open lake buoy to me is Prince Edward Pt.

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Lund SSS

Lund SSS

Posted
Posted

Noaa measures waves with a buoy at "0" feet when the lake is completely calm. When the wind blows,-the buoy goes up and down ,- but it only measures the -"up". We see waves with the up and down (trough). The buoy doesn't measure the down,- so we have to add that to their number. A 4 ft buoy wave is seen by us as about 7 feet.

Understanding the data your given has a lot to do it. Fired up is spot on, take whatever # is reported and double it......the buoys don't lie. Anything above 2.5' is "small craft stay home"

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Steeleman

Steeleman

Posted
Posted

What about the marine weather reports. For example, Lake Erie, Buffalo to New York State line beyond five miles, waves 2 feet or less? Are the waves four feet or less? For small boats, what is the maximum wave height for safe and enjoyable fishing out on Lake Erie or Ontario?

Thanks,

Silver Bear

TileMan Dan

TileMan Dan

Posted
Posted

Thats interesting! Never gave a thought to how they arrive at wave heights. Always found that they were twice as bad as predicted. Good info to keep in long term memory gents.

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MarkNY

MarkNY

Posted
Posted

I feel your pain! Have friends here from out of town and have been getting our butts kicked by waves all weekend. On top of that the fishing sucks. :(

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adipose69

adipose69

Posted
Posted

Multiply the wave height by 2!

I akways add 2' to the noaa weather LE or LO forecast.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

smallboat

smallboat

Posted
Posted

Sorry, but I have to call out incorrect information on this page.  Wave height is measured from the top of the crest to the bottom of the trough of the adjoining wave.  Measuring from a base line, flat calm for instance, to the top of a wave, is not wave height, it is amplitude. 

 

The NOAA buoy information should not be doubled to understand the actual wave height being measured since the readings of the buoys are measuring wave height as described above.  Buoys travel up and down with the wave action and measure total vertical movement, not just amplitude.

 

My experience is that many captains think they are in far bigger seas than they actually are and  misinterpret wave period and wave steepness for bigger waves.  Steep waves with a short period will seem far bigger than deep swells with a long period.   Ocean swells of 6 feet with a long period pose little problems for many boats while 6 foot breaking waves with a short period will often been very dangerous for the same vessel.

chinook35

chinook35

Posted
Posted

I'm not at all sure how the NOAA bouys measure wave height (amplitude) or distance between wave crests (frequency) . But , as an angler who has fished Lake O since the 70's , I have learned (the hard way ) to adjust the NOAA wave height predictions . If the forcast calls for  1 to 3  , I assume  2 to 4 . This had worked for years and the previous post about wave measurement makes perfect sense .  If the wave crest is measured from surface to vcrest , that explains why wave height is generally double predictions .  It works for me . I will continue to adjust accordingly . Somedays I feel like dealing with 2 to 4  ,some days not so much .  lol .

CopperJohn

CopperJohn

Posted
Posted

Sorry, but I have to call out incorrect information on this page.  Wave height is measured from the top of the crest to the bottom of the trough of the adjoining wave.  Measuring from a base line, flat calm for instance, to the top of a wave, is not wave height, it is amplitude. 

 

The NOAA buoy information should not be doubled to understand the actual wave height being measured since the readings of the buoys are measuring wave height as described above.  Buoys travel up and down with the wave action and measure total vertical movement, not just amplitude.

 

My experience is that many captains think they are in far bigger seas than they actually are and  misinterpret wave period and wave steepness for bigger waves.  Steep waves with a short period will seem far bigger than deep swells with a long period.   Ocean swells of 6 feet with a long period pose little problems for many boats while 6 foot breaking waves with a short period will often been very dangerous for the same vessel.

Agreed ! :yes:

Silver Fox

Silver Fox

Posted
Posted

Sorry, but I have to call out incorrect information on this page. Wave height is measured from the top of the crest to the bottom of the trough of the adjoining wave. Measuring from a base line, flat calm for instance, to the top of a wave, is not wave height, it is amplitude.

The NOAA buoy information should not be doubled to understand the actual wave height being measured since the readings of the buoys are measuring wave height as described above. Buoys travel up and down with the wave action and measure total vertical movement, not just amplitude.

My experience is that many captains think they are in far bigger seas than they actually are and misinterpret wave period and wave steepness for bigger waves. Steep waves with a short period will seem far bigger than deep swells with a long period. Ocean swells of 6 feet with a long period pose little problems for many boats while 6 foot breaking waves with a short period will often been very dangerous for the same vessel.

Incorrect or not, the waves that the bouy says are not the waves that I say...
momay4000

momay4000

Posted
Posted

Sorry, but I have to call out incorrect information on this page.  Wave height is measured from the top of the crest to the bottom of the trough of the adjoining wave.  Measuring from a base line, flat calm for instance, to the top of a wave, is not wave height, it is amplitude. 

 

The NOAA buoy information should not be doubled to understand the actual wave height being measured since the readings of the buoys are measuring wave height as described above.  Buoys travel up and down with the wave action and measure total vertical movement, not just amplitude.

 

My experience is that many captains think they are in far bigger seas than they actually are and  misinterpret wave period and wave steepness for bigger waves.  Steep waves with a short period will seem far bigger than deep swells with a long period.   Ocean swells of 6 feet with a long period pose little problems for many boats while 6 foot breaking waves with a short period will often been very dangerous for the same vessel.

 

Smallboat is absolutely correct. The NOAA buoys measure trough to crest and somehow use a calculation to average the waves over a period of time. The post above aboat doubling from a "0" starting point is not correct.

 

- Chris

momay4000

momay4000

Posted
Posted

When the bouy says 3' You guys go ahead and fish in those three footers then......

 

 

zactly!

 

This has nothing to do with someone questioning safety and when or when not to go out and fish in the waves.

 

The poster above simply pointed out incorrect information on calculating wave height. Why all the "read between the lines" sarcasm I so often see in certain posts?

 

Thanks,

 

Chris

Silver Fox

Silver Fox

Posted
Posted

Because the original poster was trying to be a little funny about the forecast, till someone got all serious on us...

momay4000

momay4000

Posted
Posted

Good point....yes you are correct and me included needs to lighten up from time to time.

 

No hard feelings - tight lines,

 

Chris

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