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Stormswellisanindicatorofanapproachingtropicalcyclone.Theappearanceofaswellofaparticulartypemaygivequitereliable
indicationsofatropicalstormasmuchas805to1610kilometersormoredistant.Theheightofthewavesfromwhichswelldevelop
isdeterminedbythefetchorwaterdistanceoverwhichthewindhasblownwithoutsignificantdeviationindirection.Basedon
researches,themaximumheightofawaveasafunctionoffetchisH=1/3(F)1/2whereHisinmeters,andFisinkilometers.

Themagnitudeofwavesisdependentnotonlyuponthefetch,butalsouponthewindvelocity.Overoceanicareaswith6001000
milesormoreofsearoom,waves3540feethigharedevelopedinordinarystormsandinmoreintensestormsmayexceed45feet.
Basedonsomestudies,thequotientobtainedbydividingthewindvelocity(probablyaverageforhour)inmilesperhourby2.05
representstheaverageheightinfeetofwavesdevelopedbythewind.Thisshouldbeusedwithcautionandonlyasan
approximation.Sincetherearealwaysotherfactorstobetakenintoconsideration,andawind,constantinspeedanddirection(ina
hurricaneatleast),doesnotactonawaveforanygreatlengthoftime.Thebreakingwaveorswellisoneofthemostdestructive
elementsoftropicalcyclone,sinceacubicyardofwaterweighs1500poundsandwavesmovingforwardmanyfeetpersecondmay
beverydestructivetobeachesandharborfacilities,especiallywhentheycontaindebrissuchastreetrunksandheavybeams.

Duringtheoccurrenceofatropicalcycloneitwasobservedthatthewindenergyisconcentratedinthestormcausingasystemof
swellwavestospreadoutofthestormarea.Theswellmoveswithaspeedofthreeorfourtimesgreaterthanthespeedofthestorm
center.Nowtheswellgeneratedintherearrightquadrantwillmoveforwardinthedirectionofthemovementofthestorm.These
waveswillbeundertheinfluenceofthestrongwindsforalongtime,andwesaythatthefetchislarge.Totheleftofthestormtrack,
thewavesareundertheinfluenceofthewindforarelativelyshorttime,andwesaythatthefetchissmall.Theenergythatgoesinto
theswellincreaseswithfetch,withresultthattheswellgeneratedontherightofthestormbecomesprominent.Thisswelltravelsa
longway,itmaybeobservedasfaras1000milesawayfromthecenterofthestorm,andthisprovidesawarning.Thedirectionfrom
whichtheswellarrivespointstowardtheplacewheretheswellwasgenerated.Thewarningis,however,notveryprecise,forit
providesnoinformationonthebehaviorofthestormsincetheswellleftit.Nevertheless,thearrivaloftheswellisausefulearlyalert
tothemanonthebridge,theharbormaster,andthebeachdweller.
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