Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...

From: Mark Perkins <marker_at_gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:51:32 -0800
On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 1:08 PM, Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> Can a 10-foot swell produce 20-foot surf?
>

Not sure if this was a serious question, but I'll take the bait.

Short answer is "yes". It depends primarily on the period of the swell and
also on the shape of the bottom converting the swell to surf. The longer the
period the higher the surf height / swell height ratio.

I believe that when Mavericks (sorry to stray from So Cal to Nor Cal for a
moment) is going off, the surf height is often about double the swell
height.

-Mark
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Received on Thu Jan 21 2010 - 14:54:31 PST

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