Chesapeake Bay Wave Forecast
Hour-by-hour significant wave height across the Bay, its tidal rivers and the nearby coast for the next 48 hours, from NWPS — the Nearshore Wave Prediction System, the ~2 km wave model the NWS Baltimore/Washington and Wakefield offices themselves use for Chesapeake wave guidance. Model guidance, not the official forecast: each zone's zone forecast is the official word, and the buoys below are what the water is actually doing right now.
Wave height: 0 · 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 6+ ft
NWPS significant wave height (NOAA/NWS, LWX and AKQ domains merged at Smith Point); run times shown above — runs are forecaster-triggered, so age varies. Zone outlines are NWS marine zones (tap one for its forecast); an outlined zone has a Small Craft Advisory or warning in effect. Esri Ocean basemap.
What the buoys measure right now
Was the forecast right? — Gooses Reef buoy, mid-bay
Wave forecasts by zone
Every zone page carries the official NWS forecast, an hourly wind & wave chart, sea state guidance for small craft, and the buoys on that water.
- North of Pooles Island
- Pooles Island to Sandy Point
- Sandy Point to North Beach
- North Beach to Drum Point
- Drum Point to Smith Point
- Key Bridge to Indian Head
- Indian Head to Cobb Island
- Cobb Island to Smith Point
- Patapsco River & Baltimore Harbor
- Chester River to Queenstown
- Eastern Bay
- Choptank & Little Choptank
- Patuxent River to Broomes Island
- Tangier Sound & Bloodsworth Island
- Smith Point to Windmill Point
- Windmill Point to New Point Comfort
- New Point Comfort to Little Creek
- Currituck Sound
- Little Creek to Cape Henry
- Rappahannock River
- York River
- James River
- Fenwick Island to Chincoteague
- Chincoteague to Parramore Island
- Parramore Island to Cape Charles Light
- Cape Charles Light to the NC border
Reading the forecast
- Small Craft Advisory — sustained winds of 18–33 kt and/or seas hazardous to small boats are expected; on the Bay that usually means 2–4 ft of short, steep chop. Gale Warning: 34–47 kt. Storm Warning: 48 kt and up.
- Waves are significant wave height — the average of the highest third; expect occasional waves half again as high. Bay chop is short-period (3–5 seconds between crests), so 2 ft here feels far rougher than 2 ft of ocean swell — and wind over open water builds it fast: the longer the fetch, the bigger the waves.
- Go / Caution / No-go on these pages is planning guidance computed from the NWS forecast with the thresholds printed beside it — an advisory always outranks it, and it is no substitute for the official forecast or your own judgment.
- Winds are in knots (1 kt = 1.15 mph). “Becoming” means a shift during the period; gusts are listed when they matter.
- Zone forecasts are issued by the NWS Baltimore/Washington, Wakefield or Mount Holly offices about every six hours and amended when conditions change; the issue time is shown under the text.
- Wind against the current builds the roughest water — check the current predictions for the passages you will cross.