The long-term mean steric height (0/500 dbar) data of Reid and Mantyla (1976) are added to relative monthly mean adjusted sea level data to obtain a seasonal time series of ''quasi-absolute'' large-scale (>300 km) sea surface elevation along the west coast of the United States from 48¿N to 33¿N, North of 38¿N, the elevation slope reverses sign seasonally so that the resulting pressure gradient force is southward from October to June and Northward from July to September. South of 38¿N, the pressure gradient force is northward except during January at all latitudes and during February in the interval from 38¿N to 35¿N. Maximum northward force occurs during August and September at all latitudes. The relative contributions to sea level elevation slope by seasonal heating and cooling, freshwater effluent effects, the alongshore component of coastal wind stress, and deep-ocean currents are investigated. Both seasonal heating and cooling and freshwater contributions to large-scale elevation slope are relatively insignificant (<10% in every month) at all latitudes. Wind stress forcing (determined with the barotropic, steady, frictional model of Csanady (1978)) is significant north of Point Conception (35¿N) for both the long-term mean slope and its seasonal oscillation. Remote contributions are particularly important in the Pacific Northwest, South of San Francisco (38¿N), empirical evidence suggests that deep-ocean currents contribute significantly to coastal elevation slope in summer and fall and in the mean. Deep-ocean currents may also affect elevation slope along the whole coast during spring, causing elevated sea level toward the north.