Received: from hplms26.hpl.hp.com by opus.hpl.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.8/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA26534; Fri, 18 Aug 1995 13:37:03 -0700 Return-Path: <James.Paugh@Eng.Sun.COM-DeleteThis> Received: from mercury.Sun.COM by hplms26.hpl.hp.com with ESMTP ($Revision: 1.36.108.11 $/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1S) id AA010348284; Fri, 18 Aug 1995 13:38:04 -0700 Received: from Eng.Sun.COM by mercury.Sun.COM (Sun.COM) id NAA07325; Fri, 18 Aug 1995 13:26:52 -0700 Received: from jurassic.Eng.Sun.COM (jurassic-52.Eng.Sun.COM) by Eng.Sun.COM (5.x/SMI-5.3) id AA19124; Fri, 18 Aug 1995 13:24:06 -0700 Received: from jalama.Eng.Sun.COM by jurassic.Eng.Sun.COM (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id NAA09592; Fri, 18 Aug 1995 13:24:03 -0700 Received: by jalama.Eng.Sun.COM (SMI-8.6.9/SMI-SVR4) id NAA07122; Fri, 18 Aug 1995 13:25:04 -0700 Date: Fri, 18 Aug 1995 13:25:04 -0700 From: James.Paugh@Eng.Sun.COM-DeleteThis (Jim Paugh) Message-Id: <199508182025.NAA07122@jalama.Eng.Sun.COM-DeleteThis> To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis Subject: Re: Angel Island To Alcatraz X-Sun-Charset: US-ASCII
> From: Will Estes <westes@usc.com-DeleteThis>
>
> I flew in from Portland on Wednesday, and I had the opportunity to
> study the swell coming in under the Gate from about 10,000 feet. You
> could definitely make out the dispersing wave pattern as the swell came
> in under the Gate and worked its way out into the Bay.
>
> It was interesting to note that the swell was biggest directly between
> Alcatraz and Angel Island. If you drew a line between the two, this
> would be the area of largest swell. It also happens to be smack in
> the middle of the shipping lane for big ships coming in and out, but I
> suppose if you are good enough to get this far out, you are good
> enough to look for ships and avoid them.
[...]
> Can anyone guess why the swell would get larger in this area? I'm
> guessing that the bottom is shallower in this region, causing the
> swell to crest and maybe break more.
Actually, the opposite. The shipping channel is where the bay is the
deepest, which creates a stronger tidal current flow, which in turn,
creates bigger swells. This is the same effect that creates swells on
the Columbia River.
~Jim
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