Wave forecast for Jeanne

This shows "wave forecast" for Hurricane Jeanne in Florida and surrounding states.  What does Wave forecast mean?

Is this how high the waves are going to be?  20-30feet?!

Can someone give me a little enlightenment here.  

Just what it sounds like.  Satellites and buoys measure wave activity.  Surfers sometimes plan their life around it.  My friend left for Hawaii yesterday because he had a report about good waves coming in.

Holy mother of nature.

Cant imagine a 30 foot wave.  My best wishes for floridians.  About time to build your own fortified coast after all this is over.

i'm starting to think this is God's way of solving the " we can count votes" thing we had last election.

J

Quoted: Wave forecast for Jeanne This shows "wave forecast" for Hurricane Jeanne in Florida and surrounding states.  What does Wave forecast mean? Is this how high the waves are going to be?  20-30feet?! Can someone give me a little enlightenment here.

Yup...20-30 foot waves...and that's on top of the 8-10 foot storm surge...

What is that involving?  How much destruction is that?  Looking at my map of Florida I see most of the cities and towns are on the coast.  How high were the waves in Ivan?

Theoretical wave height cannot exceed the depth of the water. i.e. you cannot get 6 foot waves in 5 foot of water.  What happens is they "break" and technically, they aren't  "waves" anymore and don't follow the same rules.  The big problem is that they still have MASSES of moving water being delivered in a certain direction.  Very large things move when cubic yards of water hit.  No offence to the bridge in Pensacola,  but there are cases of 100-200 ton solid blocks of shorebreak stone being displaced in storms. That bridge span was no big deal to move.  Also the normal depth of the water is added to by storm "surge" ahead of Hurricanes ;  water is pushed and (sort of) "piled up" on the right/front quadrant of a storm. Now the wave height can increase even more because it is happening in water that is deeper. Last...the area of Florida coast you're looking at is relatively deep right up to shore, and the huge waves that have been pushed and have been building up all the way from the Western Bahamas have had nothing to stop them until they "feel" the bottom right at the Florida coast. By then, it's too late ... that water has to go somewhere.   BTW ... OFFSHORE ... wave height, by itself, is not usually a huge problem. Given the choice between 10 foot waves 50 feet apart (crest-to-crest) and 20 foot waves 200 yards apart,  I know what I'd rather sail in. Hope that helps some.
If you want/need more ... check out Adlard Coles "Heavy Weather Sailing", Van Dorn's "Oceanography & Seamanship", or a copy of "The American Practical Navigator" aka "Bowditch"         Stay safe