u/KeziahSt

Don't want to overdo these shares, but have not in two weeks so figured I'd share the BeachCastNC OKI beach forecast video for the upcoming weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5DhCZosKSo

Regards from a local weather guy,

- Rob

For those interested, this is based on my own surf forecast tool Surf-Metrics.

http://surf-metrics.com/

And specifically the Ocean Crest surf forecast. Great for my fellow surfers on the island or NC in general.

http://70.40.100.27/SM.DASH/OceanCrestNC.html

http://70.40.100.27/SM.DASH/YauponNC.html

Local guy here with NC State degree in Meteorology. Big surfer. In that respect, I developed a surf forecasting tool under the banner of Surf-Metrics.com that has been running on my local system here on the island for well over a year now. It's been a hobby in partial retirement. I did videos for a while last year trying to push the product to a broader audience. All the coding was done by hand before AI became a thing. Have lots of regular surfers still using the tool, but stopped the videos because of a new part time gig and the time it took. The tool has continued to run super well.

Last year a friend on the island suggested I think about doing something similar for the much larger group of beach goers both local and those on a visit to this grand beach. I did not want to get into the time consuming task of generating YouTube videos by hand, but had the idea of levering AI to read my raw model output and pull in other sources of information to create regular videos with reliable template. Also don't fancy myself as a great online "talker"... more of a data guy. So this is more about providing information and not as much about the personality providing that info. I certainly get any abrasion that AI may rub people. But this is a simple no-nonsense way I can use my surf forecast algorithms to inform folks heading to the beach. A "fairly easy button" 😂

My plan as of now is a new forecast every mid-week... right now Wed. This forecast would focus on the upcoming beach weekend defined as Fri-Sun. Secondary is the following week and next weekend that starts to be more uncertain. What's a bit unique I think is the forecast of Warning Flag level, surf and rip current risk based on criteria here at Oak Island. It will certainly take some refinement, but also plan on other weather and sea factors in the outlooks as relevant. And to add in beach rules/etiquette and such that us locals see broken all the time such as keep off the dunes, holes, trash and walking dogs on burning hot sand/asphalt. Essentially pull information from the town website and have AI sprinkle in the messaging. Testing a hot paws index too that take weather data and advises on days when the sand is extra hot or not.

So I think locals can find interest as they look towards the weekend and wonder about surf conditions, wind or rain, but really geared towards helping tourists as they plan their week down on our shore. Also have ideas of posting cool edits from several years of taking drone video of surf in the area and weather interest videos as we face the elements moving forward. Or even explainers on weather phenomenon like the sea breeze that I've published articles on in a past life as a weather researcher.

BeachCastNC Oak Island

This is the trailer or intro video to the channel.

First forecast issued today

Please share if you find some value. Especially as friends or family visit who may not be as tuned to beach life.

Regards, Rob

One of the fav times of year when snow peas fill the bin almost daily while summer veggies are working hard to reach production. It appears this will be our best year for peas. I did two ~20 ft rows and dense seeding from seeds save last year so completely sustainable this time around. Seems the dense seeding has not hurt production. Also allowed two Amaranth plants last year reseed a bed that I'll typically use for peppers. That worked well and adds some color to the garden space. One of our fig tree also pictured.