Okay tell me more about the air pressure gradients! Like some sort of Bernoulli's principle thing? And how does that hollow it out? I also think it's the most interesting, so flesh it out for me if you can! 🧐 Love the blog, keep posting!
Spot on! The offshore flow slows at the base of the wave, creating a high pressure region, and speeds up at the lip, creating a low pressure region up top - Bernoulli's principle. So, facing the wave from the front, the base of the wave is pushed further out to sea (at least the force is in that direction) and the lip is pulled forward by the pressure gradient. This basically pulls the barrel wider than the no wind case by slowing the bottom and accelerating the lip in opposite directions. The onshore wind case creates turbulent eddies in front of the wave, which doesn't cause this effect. That, paired with the extra momentum imparted from the back of the wave, causes it to crumble faster than in the no wind case. Thanks for the question!
Okay tell me more about the air pressure gradients! Like some sort of Bernoulli's principle thing? And how does that hollow it out? I also think it's the most interesting, so flesh it out for me if you can! 🧐 Love the blog, keep posting!
Spot on! The offshore flow slows at the base of the wave, creating a high pressure region, and speeds up at the lip, creating a low pressure region up top - Bernoulli's principle. So, facing the wave from the front, the base of the wave is pushed further out to sea (at least the force is in that direction) and the lip is pulled forward by the pressure gradient. This basically pulls the barrel wider than the no wind case by slowing the bottom and accelerating the lip in opposite directions. The onshore wind case creates turbulent eddies in front of the wave, which doesn't cause this effect. That, paired with the extra momentum imparted from the back of the wave, causes it to crumble faster than in the no wind case. Thanks for the question!