Spindrift and light

  

10-foot swell + 15-second wave period + an offshore breeze = a setup for spindrift! 

A few wave photos from this morning (12 January 2026).

 

 

 

 

 

From an offshore storm

  

The offshore buoy was reporting wave heights of ~22 feet earlier today (23 December 2024).  These were big waves, so I took a few photos for the record.  

Each photo has at least one gull in front of the wave for scale.  The gulls seem to love surfing the winds off these waves, which is fun to watch.  You can click on the images for larger versions. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stormy conditions are going to continue for a while, so stay a safe distance away from these waves.

Blowing offshore

  

Not sure about you, but I was a little surprised by the strength of the wind this morning.  I think the prediction was for ~6 mph, but it was more like 18 mph with gusts to 28 mph.  And it was from the east or east-northeast (blowing offshore), so it created some interesting foam line patterns perpendicular to the shore.

Conditions were also good for clean waves and spindrift:

 

 

 

 

Foam flurries

  

Recent weather forecasts have included a lot of different things  — scattered showers, gusty winds, elevated seas, flood advisories, thunderstorms, water spouts — but I don't think anyone mentioned foam flurries!  Strong winds and large waves conspired to launch pieces of foam skyward today (19 February 2024).

Here are a few wave photos, too.  Swell heights reached almost 20 feet:

 

Light in waves

  

The waves were still sizable at the coast today, with swell in the 14-17 foot range.  And I didn't expect it based on the forecast, but the sun was out for most of the day, leading to some beautiful colors in the water, especially in contrast to the breaking waves and spindrift.  Enjoy!  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

 

 

 

 

Wavelength?

  

Some nice waves off the outer beach of Point Reyes this morning (26 December 2023).  

At times the sun angle was just right to light up the spindrift!

 

 

The swell today was ~12 feet, but wave heights will be increasing this week from an offshore storm near the California/Oregon border.  Stay safe out there!

 

Nice combination

  

These waves weren't that big, but the angle of light and the wind direction combined to produce some nice colors in the spindrift.  Photographed 27 November 2023.

Drift like this

  

Hard to resist spindrift like this.  Photographed on 1 February 2023.

Wind and waves

  

Another photo of the stormy conditions on 7 January 2023.  

[You can click on the image for a larger version.]

Afternoon rainbow and sunset spindrift

  

It was overcast and raining for most the day (2 January 2023) and then around sunset the sky became interesting, with a bright rainbow to the east and dramatic lighting on the waves to the west.  

Although faint, here's a photo of the rainbow with the moon:

 

 

And here are two wave photos, with sunset lighting up the spindrift:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sounds like we'll be seeing quite a bit of rain this week.

Liquid and light

  

Still sorting through some wave photos.  Here's one that caught my eye...

Colors in the drift

  

This one is from earlier in January.  I like the way the rainbow colors appear along the different sections of the wave.

Drift

 

 

Now that's spindrift!  

 

Photographed off the southern end of Bodega Head on 12 January 2022.

 

[You can click on the image for a larger version.]

 

Windswept

  

8 January 2022

Storm-driven

  

The buoy offshore of Point Reyes reported wave heights between 20-30 feet for most of the last 24 hours.  These photos were taken from Bodega Head this morning (25 October 2021).

As always, it's hard to judge the wave heights in photos without anything for scale.  Below, the Brown Pelicans help provide some perspective.  [Brown Pelicans have a wingspan of ~6.5 feet.]

 

 

 

Sometimes it's nice to see the backs of the waves as they roll by:

 

 

 

January swell

  

Large west northwest swell today (12-15 feet).  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

 

Waves are predicted to be large through the week and into the weekend.  Please be safe and heed high surf advisories.  You can check for them on the NWS/San Francisco Bay Area website here or on their Twitter feed here.

 

Wave energy

I'm working on a project tonight, but here are a few more recent wave shots.  [Click on them for larger versions.]  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liftoff

The swell was even larger this morning (the offshore buoy was reading ~17 feet at 19 seconds).  A few more photos for the record.  [You can click on the them for larger versions.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I continue to be fascinated by the colors in spindrift:

 

 

 

 

Fire and light?

 

 

 

I had to make a run out to the coast today (7 December 2020).  The waves were pretty big (the swell was ~13 feet in the late afternoon) and there was an offshore breeze, making for some nice spindrift conditions.  It's always hard for me to choose which wave images to show, but this didn't seem like a bad place to start.

 

 

 

 

Silver and green

 

West-northwest swell and south-southeast winds made for some pretty waves today (20 January 2020).  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]