NOAA 30 yr Hindcast Phase 2 Partitioned Wind Direction

[AlexForsythe]

I have downloaded the partitioned NetCDF files between 1979-2009 for the Alaska 4 min grid from the NECP NOAA 30-year Wave Watch III hindcast Phase 2. I am using these data as an input and boundary conditions for a SWAN model. When I extract the wind speed and direction at one lat lon point in the Alaska 4 min grid from 1979-2009, the directions range from -256 to +360 degrees. Based on the documentation, I believe the wind directions should be in “going to” or oceanographic convention. I would assume if the wind direction value minimum was -180 degrees, and the maximum was 180 degrees. A -180 degree value would simply represent a wind coming from the south rather than going to. But my question is, given that the wind direction range is -256 to 360, what does a negative wind direction represent in this case? I could not find the documentation for this. I would appreciate an explanation of the question I have outlined above! Thanks in advance!