White Horses

Breaking wave crests whose entrained air and foam appear white against the surrounding water.

Also called whitecaps, they form when waves become steep enough to break under wind, opposing current, shallow-water or crossing-sea effects. Their increasing frequency is one visual cue used in empirical wind and sea-state descriptions.

White horses do not correspond to one exact wind speed because wave age, fetch, current, depth and swell alter when crests break. They indicate energetic surface conditions but should be interpreted with forecasts, measured wind and the wider wave field.