Travel time for Indo swells

tiger's picture
tiger started the topic in Wednesday, 16 Oct 2019 at 3:22pm

Getting close to a late season trip to g land. Time to start obsessing on the forecast charts. After an idea of travel time for the swells from the storms in the southern ocean to landfall. Yes, I know there's plenty of variables, period location of storm etc. But just after a ballpark idea of how many days it takes on average. Example if the system is around the 40 deg south, somewhere midway between Oz and Africa. Cheers

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Thursday, 17 Oct 2019 at 9:43am

In general you're looking at anywhere between 3-7 days (ballpark 4-5, but swells from weaker fetches will travel slower - maybe 6-7 days - whilst swells from stronger fetches will travel faster - so as little as 3 days).

Of course the Indian Ocean is bloody huge, so you can add another day or two on top of these figures for storms below Madagascar/South Africa.

tiger's picture
tiger's picture
tiger Thursday, 17 Oct 2019 at 1:05pm

Thanks Ben. Hope you are well mate! I really should just spring for a forecast from you. But I get a kind of perverse pleasure in sweating on the latest model runs, and the rollercoaster ride that is watching them chop and change. Froth and concern in equal parts at the moment!

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Thursday, 17 Oct 2019 at 1:31pm

Ahh.. sounds like every day of the week in the office here! Haha.

Hope your relocation is going well.. nice neck of the woods you're in now. I'll have to pop in and say g'day next time I'm passing through.

tiger's picture
tiger's picture
tiger Friday, 18 Oct 2019 at 7:06am

Yes mate loving it down here! Great fun working out a new coast, and all its intricacies. Been some really nice waves, especially late winter early spring. Been putting a small dent in the flathead population down here too, luckily the bottom is carpeted with them. Let me know when you are next passing through!