NOAA says for monday: MON W WINDS 20 TO 25 KT...INCREASING TO 25 TO 30 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 5 TO 7 FT. and supposedly it's a medium period swell from the ESE...there's NO WAY that rodanthe is only going to be knee to waist. you guys pulling my leg?
With 2 feet of ESE medium period incoming swell, and 25 mph offshore winds yeah id say 5-7 foot seas and waist high surf sounds about right. The 5-7 foot stuff is wind chop heading out to sea.
yeah man those bouy data readings are for way out to sea for the ships, it means they got 5 - 7 foot rollers out there that rarely if ever translates into the swell on the shore
the SE swell currently on its way to the whole east coast(check the far bouys) is a groundswell, meaning 2ft deepwater swell. These are not affected by the wind as much as windswells are, because of the power and less windshear to the heart of the wave. Monday should be pretty fun on the right tide if it all comes through as predicted
as these guys said, that 5 to 7 ft is for 10-20 miles offshore, the waves are heading away from the coast with the strong offshore winds. There should be a little ESE background swell in the water over the next few days. This is originating down by Puerto Rico with the trade winds down there.