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Q&A What do surf report terms like "fading WNW swell" mean?

I'm confused about whether these headings refer to the direction of the source of the wind/swell, or the the direction they are blowing into. My understanding is that they are talking about the sou...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by gunit‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by System‭

#2: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2020-04-17T20:27:44Z (about 4 years ago)
Source: https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/17845
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#1: Initial revision by user avatar gunit‭ · 2020-04-17T20:27:44Z (about 4 years ago)
<p>I'm confused about whether these headings refer to the direction of the source of the wind/swell, or the the direction they are blowing into. My understanding is that they are talking about the source.</p>

<p>For example, this morning's Surfline report:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Fading WNW offers up head
  high-overhead surf to good exposures... Winds are steady N-NNE now, adding a bit of texture
  to unsheltered breaks...</p>
</blockquote>

<p>My interpretation of this is that there is a swell COMING FROM the WNW (so it's actually heading towards ESE?) and that wind is coming from N-NNE,(so the wind is actually blowing TOWARDS S-SSW?) Is my understanding correct?</p>

<p>Also, on the left column in Surfline, it describes the following, along with a logo of an arrow. The arrow is POINTING at the direction that the wind is blowing TOWARDS right? Whereas the text (NE 42) is specifying the direction the wind CAME from right?</p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/0Nu8S.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/0Nu8S.png" alt="Surfline wind and swell info"></a></p>

<p>Also, since the reports specify the direction of the source, can I always assume that the swell and wind is going TOWARDS the opposite direction of the source?</p>