Table 4. (Continued). 



Area6,2°Sto3°N,95-110°W. 



























JAN 



FEB MAR APR MAY JUN 



JUL 



AUG 



SEP 



OCT 



NOV DEC 



mean wind speed (kts) 



8 



8 



7 



7 



8 



10 



11 



11 



10 



9 



9 9 



99.5 percentile 



24 



24 



24 



24 



24 



25 



27 



27 



25 



24 



24 24 



Wind speeds of 34 knots 

 were in the 99.9 percentile. 

























mean wave height (m) 



1 



1 



1 



1 



1 



1.5 



1.5 



1.5 



1.5 



1.5 



1.5 1 



99.5 percentile 



3.5 



4 



4 



4 



4 



5 



4.5 



4.5 



5 



4 



4 3.5 



Wave period distribution (annual): 

 (<6 sec) 49%, (6-7 sec) 24%, (8-9 sec 



)9%,( 



10-11 



sec) 4% 















Extreme Meteorological Data 



Extreme wind and wave data are highly important to the design and siting of the 

 OFEF. These data need to be assessed in relation to engineering and biological requirements 

 and tolerances. Table 5 gives the extreme wind speed, significant wave heights, and extreme 

 wave heights, for specified return periods for west coast, Hawaii, and east coast areas (the 

 latter is included for informational comparison purposes). Figure 48 shows coastal areas 

 where wind and wave recurrence statistics were computed. The table gives mean return 

 period, which is defined as the average number of years between successive occurrence of 

 values greater than, or equal to, the stated value. On the west coast from central California 

 to Washington, areas 25 to 30 have the highest extreme winds; these areas have 25-year wind 

 returns value of 41 to 43 m/sec (Ref. 38). The area off Hawaii has 37- to 40-m/sec 25-year 

 extreme winds. The coastal areas of lowest extreme velocities are southern CaUfornia (area 

 22) and northern Baja California (Area 20), showing 3 1 and 35 m/sec, respectively for 25- 

 year extremes. Off southern California, the five-year return extreme is by far the lowest at 

 26 m/sec. 



Wave-height extremes show a similar trend to the wind values with the highest waves 

 off northern California, Oregon, and Washington. The 25-year significant wave for this area 

 varies between 15 and 16 meters (extreme waves of 27 to 29 meters), whereas off southern 

 California the significant 25-year wave is between 1 1 and 12 meters (extremes of 19 to 21 

 meters). 



Waves in the Hawaiian waters are estimated at 15 to 16 meters, significant height 

 and 23 to 28 meters for extreme waves for 25-year return periods. 



Tables 6 and 7 give high-wind and wave-recurrence statistics foi the northwestern 

 portion of the survey area. The highest winds occur in the northern portion at OWS P 

 (50°N) where the 5-year wind is 43 m/sec and the 25-year wind is 5 1 m/sec. The minimum 

 extreme winds are observed at OWS N (30°N) where the 5- and 25-year winds are 32 and 39 

 m/sec, respectively. Areas 1 to 4 have intermediate extreme winds. 



29 



