Recently i had a talk with a few professional surfers and some very known NJ photographers who were at a spot I was surfing. One thing they told me about swells was to look at the pressure drop. I beleive there talking about the barometer reading on weather sites. I don't know why this is, so if anyone can explain the reason behind this theory that would be great. Anyway, every time I see a 2-3+ swell on here I go and look at the barometer. According to these guys(who probably know a lot more than most people since they always seem to score) the larger the change in pressure drop the bigger the waves will be. I have put it to the test and it seems to be accurate. You know those days when its forecasted for 3+ and ends up being 6+, if you look at the barometer you will notice a very large change.
barometer and pressure dropping would be leading to low pressure systems would be my guess? low pressure systems create waves. pretty much the same concept could apply to northeasters or hurricane, i mean they have a low pressure center.
thats good attention to detail though.. with barometer i mean if you see a high fluctuation in reading it would be a good sign of the future development of waves.
Idk if barometric pressure has a lot to do with waves per say, even though a lower pressure of a storm usually mean a tighter gradient of wind, with that said, it still all depends on where that wind is pointed and how strong and how long the wind is blowing to make a ground swell....hope this make makes sense.
http://www.windguru.cz/int/ http://windmapper.com/ thats all u need plus a few other sites and then make your own conclusion based on what your local spots ps.... i think were gna get blasted this swell
That is not really a good tip. It is true, that much of the swells on the east coast come from coastal low pressure systems, which means lower air pressure. But, even then, you wait until the storm passes and the winds shift offshore. In areas, such as Southern California, which sits under high pressure for most days, the swells are coming from very distant storms. So, measure the air pressure in SoCal, is even less useful. In general, your better off looking at a weather map to determine the location of the pressure systems, and thus the winds. It is the gradients between high and low pressure systems that generate wind and thus swell.
When the barometer drops, its time to fish. That's when they bite. Unfortunately the weather turns to crapola so its usually a sporty trip.
When the pressure drops, there is less atmospheric pressure on the surface of the water which allows the waves to rise more.
I use a variety of maps and this is my new favorite: http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic=-74.22,43.33,856
