Pacific City Alert Guide

Oregon, USA · part of the Pacific City spot guide

The Tillamook Bay buoy (46278) is a waves-only Waverider that reports no wind, so this observation alert keys on swell only — judge wind from a separate forecast. The height below is the buoy’s open-ocean reading and, because the cape softens the swell, an upper bound on the face.

The forecaster's checklist

1. 1.Read the Tillamook Bay buoy (46278) direction — west to west-northwest (about 260–290°) is best, and pure north-northwest is docked by the cape.
2. 2.Look for period of about 10 seconds or more for organised groundswell; shorter windswell still works but is weaker.
3. 3.Treat the buoy height as an upper bound because the cape softens it — waist-to-overhead lands in the two-to-six-foot band, and above about eight feet it maxes or closes out except the sheltered corner.
4. 4.Judge wind separately — the buoy has no anemometer — and want an east offshore or calm, with the cape sheltering the beach on a north or northwest blow.
5. 5.Check the dory-boat launch corridor before paddling out, and trial mid-tide.

Local winds & tide

Best wind: E offshore (mornings); cape shelters N/NW — from 45° to 135° (NE–SE).

Surfable across the tide when there is swell, though the best bank-and-tide pairing shifts with the sand; bigger days get dumpy at low, smaller days want more push — trial mid-tide.

Dial it in