Waves/Swell seem incorrect

[JoeSurf]

Screenshot 2023-03-11 at 10.10.53 AM.png
Screenshot 2023-03-11 at 10.11.03 AM.png
I've been using Windy to decide on good days to go boating. Unfortunately, the Waves/Swell information seems to be incorrect. Today for example, Windy is showing 5ft Waves and 4ft Swell which would be sizable and a miserable day for boating.

Windy also doesn't seem to show different wave heights near shore where winds from the west have less effect on the eastern shore or in the Gulf Stream where wind from the North can can double the height of waves in the Gulf Stream as it moves North.

I've included web-cam shots from our local lighthouse which I hope show there are no 5 foot waves or 4 foot swells. It's actually pretty nice right now for boating. I've also included a screen shot from Magic Seaweed which shows 2-3 ft waves and NOAA which shows 3ft.

[JoeSurf]

@JoeSurf Also, https://community.windy.com/topic/15557/can-someone-please-help-me-understand-waves-vs-swell-vs-swell-2/3?_=1619903778348 seems to be missing

[idefix37]

@JoeSurf
Have you tried the 3 waves models available in Windy for your area?
GFS the model of NOAA gives 2ft wave height.

It is important to note that the resolution of these model is more than 13 km and that they can’t take into account the shallow seabed near the seashore. So the wave heights along the seashore is not so accurate.

Here is a similar post:
https://community.windy.com/topic/17449/swell?_=1678552602863

[JoeSurf]

@idefix37 Thanks. It took me a few minutes to figure out what you meant by "3 waves models". I needed to click the "Fcst model" icon in the lower-right.

And I hadn't tried them. I'd read somewhere that ECMWF was the most accurate so I thought I could set-and-forget. But maybe ECMWF is European and GFS is US so GFS is more accurate for me being in the South Florida area?

Since I was looking to see what the waves were at that moment. As I though about it more, I realized that I was assuming all the models would converge on reality as they approach the current time - meaning they would converge on what's actually being measured by the wave buoys. When I look at waves at the current time, I assume it reflects reality. But it seems like it reflects what's in the models which apparently aren't updated to reflect reality.

And I'm realizing as I write this it assumes there's a network of buoys measuring and reporting waves in real-time.

Maybe I've got a lot to learn about how it all works haha

[Wheats]

@JoeSurf welcome to forecasting stuff friend 😀
And we always blame the weather guy for being wrong all the time 🤣

[idefix37]

@JoeSurf
The ECMWF wave model is probably slightly better and offers a higher resolution than GFS-waves.
I suggest you compare their forecasts with the reported waves by weather buoys near your area.
https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

As a surfer you want to know the waves height close to the seashore. But the waves models are not so accurate because they are not able to take into account correctly the effect of the decreasing sea depth. Their bathymetry model is too coarse.