The NWPS Wave Model is the Nearshore Wave Prediction System ( NWPS , part of NCEP) provides on-demand, high-resolution nearshore wave model guidance to US coastal Wave Forecasting Offices (WFO), such as Los Angeles, which are responsible for the coastal wave forecasts covering their region of responsibility. Each individual office prepares the forecast wind fields and submits them to NCEP'S Environmental Modeling Center (EMC). The wave boundary conditions are from the operational WaveWatch-III model. The nearshore wave model used is SWAN. Tides and storm surge are accounted for. Wave-current interaction is included using surface currents from the Real-Time Ocean Forecast System. The computational grids have a nearshore resolution of 1.8 km down to 500 m. Details of the specific bathymetry used is not provided. The model is run by NCEP up to four times a day: 00Z, 06Z, 12Z, and 18Z as requested by the individual WFO and produces hourly forecasts out to 144 hours (6 days). From the perspective of pedigree, this model has it all.

NCEP (National Center for Environmental Prediction) is the part of the US National Weather Service responsible for running the myriads of numerical weather prediction models covering aviation weather, atmospheric forecasts, ocean wave forecasts and space weather, and disseminating the results. EMC is the Environmental Modeling Center. EMC is responsible for the development, improvement, and implementation of the numerical prediction systems operated by NCEP.

Warning - Forecasting wave heights within 1.5 foot (0.45 m) of the actual wave height, as recorded by a wave buoy, is typically excellent to very good out to 3 days, fair to middling from 3 - 7 days, poor from 7 - 10 days, and statistical noise for forecasts longer than 10 days. This holds for any and all wave models you may be looking at, no matter how fancy the presentation. We provide long-range forecasts with this in mind, Caveat Emptor. To confirm this, a comparison of GFS and WAM wave forecasts compared to NDBC wave buoy data can be reviewed at Wave Model Validation