Sea state

From Freepedia

Sea state refers to the height, period, and character of waves on the surface of a large body of water. The large number of variables involved in creating the sea state cannot be quickly and easily summed, so simpler scales are used to give a rough description of current conditions, primarily for reporting in a ship's log or similar record.

World Meteorological Organization sea state code

• 0 Calm (glassy) 0 m
• 1 Calm (rippled) 0 - 0.1 m
• 2 Smooth (wavelets) 0.1 to 0.5 m
• 3 Slight 0.5 to 1.25 m
• 4 Moderate 1.25 to 2.5 m
• 5 Rough 2.5 to 4 m
• 6 Very rough 4 to 6 m
• 7 High 6 to 9 m
• 8 Very high 9 to 14 m
• 9 Phenomenal Over 14 m

<td align="center">

Character of the sea swell
	0. None
Low	1. Short or average 2. Long
Moderate	3. Short 4. Average 5. Long
Heavy	6. Short 7. Average 8. Long
	9. Confused

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Direction from which swell is coming should be recorded.

Confused swell should be recorded as "confused northeast," if coming from the direction of northeast.

References

• Bowditch, Nathaniel original; H.O. pub No. 9: American Practical Navigator, Revised Edition 1938; United States Hydrographic Office; Not Copyrighted 1938.