I have the NOAA buoy app on my phone. Search your app store.

I use an app calldy Windy....a recreational pilot here showed it to me....shows wind directions and speeds but you can also change the readnigs to wave height if there is a body of water around.....its been somewhat good most times but like ICDEDPPL said, the lake can change in a moments notice. Ive launched late afternoon in dead calm water...go down the river and come back out like 4hrs later to 6'rs breaking over the breakwall outside of Navy Pier!

I completely understand the OT considering. I had no clue there was an app now. Damm apps are getting crazy. Soon we’ll have an app downloaded into our head from our device telling us how to NAVIGATE conditions. 😂

I wil do that. Right now I just rely on the weather band VHF. I'd also like to be able to view weather radar on the phone.

if i dont have the app i just go to google on my phone for both radar and noaa/data .... its saved me a bunch of times from not getting rained on

I use the United States Coast Guard app and just pick buoys I'll be traveling by to assess wave height. Also you can do a float plan and other safety things.
https://uscgboating.org/mobile/

I've been using the windy app for a while now. It's hour by hour and I've found it's pretty dead on balls. I combine the windy app with the surf report app and his NOAA and between the three I can be basically 99% sure what I'm getting into.

The old days, I'd watch the weather on the news. MAAAAAAYBE listen to the radio swell and wind report (which I always found spotty at best and difficult to get an accurate reading which pretty much meant I'd rarely listen to it). Other than that, I'd just head out and hope for the best! LOL. Crazy how much better knowing the weather has become.

I thought the OSO way was to start at ”REAL 8 FOOTERS” and go up from there at the rate of 1 inch equals 1 foot. Example- 6” wave equals a 6 foot wave plus the initial 8 = 14 foot wave.

Typically these are referred to by the poster when they talk about the cruise ships turning around and they just kept going.

I use my eyes. If there are white caps, I stay home, if there aren’t, I go boating.

We all know that when Loto is concerned, the formula for wave height is PWH squared... (percieved wave height, squared) (except on weekends, when PWHsquared is multiplied by 2) (saturday and sunday).