keep an eye on dean, but its likely we'll start to see some ground swell pick up sunday into monday. If Dean goes north of the antilles, then we will see more size as we head into the middle of the week.
Hi Micah/Swellinfo, I read in the mid-atlantic forum that you said long-period ground swell (like the 16 sec period we might see this weekend in SNC) is normally bad for the mid atlantic due to the shallow continental shelf, but sometimes ok for the new england area. How will a 16 sec swell be affected by the ocean floor in Southern NC? Same as the mid-atlantic region?
Without looking into the bathymetry(ocean depth) charts, i would say yes, the southeast coast does not handle long periods extremely well either. Like I was saying in the mid atlantic post, the wide continental shelf, acts to dissipate the swell energy further offshore (than compared to the west coast which has a very narrow shelf). The shelf becomes narrower along the outer banks, so the obx tends to handle grounds swells better. In general, for any location, the longer the swell period, the more variable from spot to spot the surf will be, since the refraction process increases as swell period increases. Also, small long period swell, don't seem to be as affected as larger swells.
micah, how much bigger is a 4 foot 12 second period wave vs. a 4 foot 8 sec. wave here on the east coast? also with the forecasted track of dean will we see any dribble of a wave from it? how much further south will it have to go for us not see anything?
looking like tuesday is the dropping day. the tides are a bit of an obstacle, but NSC and SNC should see some groundswell leaking in sunday through monday and dying out tuesday. it'll have some decent period, but it may not have as much size. i'm busting my chops to get babysitters for monday. pray for surf.
Today sucked. I know Swellinfo called for choppy/bumpy, but Carolina Beach was still a letdown after thinking about surf all week. Oh well, there will be much more swell to come.
4 ft 12sec can be significantly bigger. longer lines, more power as the swell travels faster. The groundswell that is reaching the SE coast right now is from Dean when it was out over the open waters.
SUN MON TUE were all fun/sick days.....yesterday afternoon got Shoulder some Head sets. Good week in all. Cant wait for another swell.
