Rhode Island sits on a broad continental shelf that extends about 100 nautical miles to thesouth of RI and affects incoming swell. This gently sloping shelf slows the swell generatedfrom distant storms as they move towards coast, decreasing the swells energy and slowing itdown. Since the water along the shelf is not as deep as open ocean, the swell “feels” thebottom before making it to the coast causing it to lose some energy along the way.
On the opposite end of the spectrum would be Hawaii which sits in the middle of the Pacificocean. Swell moving towards the Aloha State travel through deep water until they slam intothe shores of Hawaii - therefore not losing much energy before they explode on the reef.
Rhode Island’s coastline varies greatly in depth and bottom features, which directly affectthe way that waves come in and break from spot to spot. There are some spots that are superexposed and tend to break on any swell, and some that might only break once every 5 years onthat perfectly lined up hurricane swell.
Rhode Island Winds
In surfing, onshore (and sometimes cross shore) winds can completely ruin the conditions -making the waves almost unsurfable. Luckily we have many nooks and crannies around RI thatwill handle almost any wind direction… you just need to know where to look. This makes RhodeIsland different than many other coastal states, that have surf spots that face mostly thesame direction.
Rhode Island lies in the "prevailing westerlies", a belt of generally eastward moving air.Ideal winds for Rhode Island are either out of the north or northwest. Realistically theonly winds that are no good for Rhode Island, meaning almost no spots are working, arestrong southeast winds. Thankfully we don't see these too often, and if we do, it's for ashort duration.
The below image is what Rhode Island looks like when swell direction, winds, and tides allline up...
Rhode Island Tides
The tides in Rhode Island are semi-diurnal, meaning that there are two tidal cycles per day -with one cycle being one high tide and one low tide.
Many of our best surf spots in Rhode Island are super tide dependent. The same break couldchange from knee high to head high on one tide change. Keep an eye on the charts and timeyour sessions in Rhode Island wisely - of course this takes some local knowledge and yearsof practice.
As a general rule of thumb - most spots will work on a mid-incoming tide. High tide oftenfloods many of our favorite spots with too much moving water when the surf is up, fatteningup the wave and slowing things down.
Rhode Island's Swell Window
The unique shape of Rhode Island’s coastline opens up a wide swell window - allowing RhodeIsland to see swell from more directions than most other east coast states.
As you can see above, Rhode Island can accept swell anywhere from straight East (around90-100 degrees) to South/southwest (around 220 degrees). This does not mean that every spotwill be working on any of these swells, as some are more sheltered from swell directionsthan others.
Rhode Islands swell window is ideal for approaching Hurricanes in the fall, low pressuresystems moving offshore from the southeast US, and famous winter Nor'easter storms that pushtowards the coast.
Rhode Island does not, unfortunately, get swell from systems that move north of Cape Cod,Massachusetts. Typically when this happens the swell will be anywhere from E to NE, and willbe blocked the Islands off the coast of Massachusetts. This is what is called a swellshadow.
Similarly, if a swell has too much west in it (say between 220 degrees and 270 degrees),Rhode Island will see a very limited amount of surf. These systems are usually short livedanyhow since they likely formed of the coast of New York, and quickly move out to sea.
Keep this info in mind for the next time you plan to surf in Rhode Island! As always - scopeout out Surf Report/Outlook page to know exactly what to expect for conditions. Updateddaily!
Interested in Learning More or Diving Deeper?
Stay tuned for breakdown of what type of swells and weather patterns to expect per season inRhode Island.
