Posted by Chris on April 26, 2002 at 14:38:38:
In Reply to: Which swell model to trust? posted by ChrisM on April 26, 2002 at 11:52:43:
The naval one is usually the best.
I rarely believe the Scripps model.
Please note that the times are GMT and the one that says now is usually 12 to 24 hours ago.
Wave height is not the entire story.
A 12 ft swell with a 17 second period is far nicer than a 3 ft swell with a 4 second period.
The best way to interpret the maps is to look at the buoys for the wave height and period and look at the model for changes.
Typically swell heights change faster than periods (but not always).
That said .... sometimes the predictions are all wrong.
I have been out on says that were predicted to be bad that fantastic.
I have also been out where the wind came up so quickly on a day that was supposed to be good that it sucked.
Bottom line … go diving … don't worry about the weather