What Makes Ideal Surfable Waves
15 commentsThere are two main factors that determine how good the surf will be. First, there are the conditions that lead to initial wave formation. These determine the quality and size of the ground swell that will hit the surf spot. The second main factor is the local conditions at the surf spot. These have to be right to ensure the swell can create quality waves. Let's look at both of these factors in turn.
Ideal Wave Formation Conditions
In the "How Waves Are Made" section the factors that go into creating a swell are looked at. Take a read if you want more information - we'll list the main factors from the article here.
There are three main factors that affect the size of a wave (or for our purposes the quality of the swell) in open sea.
- Wind Speed - The greater the wind speed the larger the wave.
- Wind Duration -The longer the wind blows the larger the wave.
- Fetch - The greater the area the wind affects the larger the wave.
Basically we are talking about a storm. Ok, a big storm. We are talking ONIONS. "So what's an Onion?" you cry. (Just like that. Onions are making you cry!) Is this a cooking site or a surfing site?
We use the term onion to describe deep low pressures on the weather charts. Closely packed isobars (areas of equal pressure shown on a weather map) mean strong winds. It is these deep low pressure onions that generate the big swells. The swell will be bigger and last longer...
- the longer the onion sits out in the sea.
- the more tightly packed the isobars are. (Resulting in stronger winds)
- the bigger the area that the waves generated by the winds cover.
A good example of a surf weather chart (Can you spot the onion?)
The above pressure chart shows a large fetch area and a low pressure to generate the swell. Imagine that the low pressure area above is thousands of miles away from the surf spot. If this weather pattern did not change for days, our surf spot would be pumping. The high pressure region with a lack of isobars over the surf spot ensures that the local conditions should be good.
There we have it — wind speed, wind duration and a large fetch. Things are looking good for a surf. Now we need to look at the local conditions affecting surf quality.
Comments
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Guest
on May 27, 2011 |
Great explanation!..thanks |
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Guest
on Jun 22, 2011 |
good for my school work at hodgson high school |
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Guest
on Aug 2, 2011 |
thnx 4 all the info |
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Lily W..H
on Aug 6, 2011 |
wow! This information is very helpful! It helped me in a lot of work and helped me get better marks! I really owe this website one... This is one of the best! |
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Elen
on Aug 8, 2011 |
this doesn't tell me what a great surfing wave is. I am doing a project and this doesn't help. THIS SITE NEEDS MORE INFO PEOPLE!!!!!!!! |
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guesrt
on Aug 10, 2011 |
great website!!!! |
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Guest
on Aug 10, 2011 |
what ever... |
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a guy
on Aug 11, 2011 |
great website but where is the information |
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B0B
on Aug 11, 2011 |
ok info not the most entertaining:( |
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Guest
on Aug 17, 2011 |
This site is helpful |
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I Like Chicken
on Sep 19, 2011 |
great Website |
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Guest
on Nov 20, 2011 |
mmm bit seedy.. |
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Guest
on Dec 5, 2011 |
hell yea |
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Littlemsperfect
on Dec 12, 2011 |
Nice info it helped me on my project for science |
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Guest
on Apr 2, 2012 |
cheers |