I felt like I should clarify my last post. I was feeling lazy when I made it, so I didn't really explain things well. Bad oceanographer.....
The main things that determine whether a storm sends us swells (not limited to hurricanes) are:
1) Wind speed (duh)
2) Fetch (distance over which the wind is blowing, more fetch=bigger waves)
3) Wind duration (longer duration=bigger waves)
4) Wind direction (wave direction)
5) The distance the wave has to travel from the point of generation to reach us because waves decay over time.
The combination of items 1-3 determine how big the initial waves generated will be. The reason the geographic size of the hurricane is important is that it helps determine the fetch. Big hurricanes have more fetch so they make bigger waves. Bigger hurricanes also tend to be the ones with stronger winds so its sort of a two for one deal. Sort of a no brainer really, big hurricanes make big waves.
The movement of the storm is important because as the storm moves the wind direction over a given patch of ocean changes, as does the wind speed. Basically, it affects items 1-4.
Since waves decay, the further away a storm is the bigger the initial wave height at the point of generation needs to be for the swells to be noticeable here.
The main things that determine whether a storm sends us swells (not limited to hurricanes) are:
1) Wind speed (duh)
2) Fetch (distance over which the wind is blowing, more fetch=bigger waves)
3) Wind duration (longer duration=bigger waves)
4) Wind direction (wave direction)
5) The distance the wave has to travel from the point of generation to reach us because waves decay over time.
The combination of items 1-3 determine how big the initial waves generated will be. The reason the geographic size of the hurricane is important is that it helps determine the fetch. Big hurricanes have more fetch so they make bigger waves. Bigger hurricanes also tend to be the ones with stronger winds so its sort of a two for one deal. Sort of a no brainer really, big hurricanes make big waves.
The movement of the storm is important because as the storm moves the wind direction over a given patch of ocean changes, as does the wind speed. Basically, it affects items 1-4.
Since waves decay, the further away a storm is the bigger the initial wave height at the point of generation needs to be for the swells to be noticeable here.
