Daily Surf Height Observations for Oahu Shores from 1968

Daily visual surf observations for Oahu, Hawaii, spanning from 1968 to 2020. The dataset was compiled by Larry Goddard from 1968 to 1987 and later by Patrick Caldwell from 1987 to 2020, based on reports from lifeguards and surf networks. It records the upper end of the reported wave height range for the highest breakers along different coastlines.

Use Cases

• Analyze long-term trends in daily surf height for the north shore using the reported height values.
• Compare wave conditions between north, south, west, and east shores of Oahu using location-specific observations.
• Validate or calibrate wave models using the temporal consistency noted between north shore observations and NOAA buoy 51001 data from 1981-2002.
• Identify days of extreme surf with heights greater than 15 Hs, particularly from Waimea Bay reports.

Strengths

• Over 50 years of daily observations from 1968 to 2020.
• Observations are cross-checked among various reporters for quality control.
• North shore data shows temporal consistency with buoy-estimated heights, with an uncertainty of 10-15%.

Limitations

• Wave heights are reported in the Hawaii scale (Hs), which systematically underestimates breaker size by up to half.
• Observations for the west and east sides of Oahu are noted to be of lower quality.
• Sample data and specific row/column counts are unavailable for review.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Accession 0001754.

Collection Method

Visual observations logged from publicly available surf reports and notes by primary compilers Larry Goddard and Patrick Caldwell.

Time Range

1968 to 2020.

Freshness

Data collection ended in 2020.

Geography

Oahu, Hawaii, USA, with specific sites like Sunset Point (north shore), Waimea Bay, and Ala Moana (south shore).