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Bracklesham Bay wave buoy daily means for May 2023

Daily means from the Bracklesham Bay wave buoy for May 2023, including available wave height, period, direction, wind and sea temperature data.

Last observation shown

Data available:  to 

Monthly means for

Latest

Period Summary

Programmatically generated summary. Hog Says

1,484 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1.1 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.7–2 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 6.6 seconds (10th–90th percentile 2.5–11.1 seconds). Mean water temperature was 14.1°C (10th–90th percentile 12.6–15.8°C). 38 of 5,860 checked values (0.6%) were excluded by quality control. Across 13 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 1.8 ft and mean wave period was below the same-month mean of 6.8 seconds.

Generated only from the observations and comparisons shown on this page.

Typical Significant Wave Height

1.1ft
Mean: 1.2 ft
P10–P90: 0.7 — 2 ft
Recorded extremes

0.4 — 3.6 ft

Available for 741 of 743 hourly samples

Mean Observed Wave Period

6.6secs
P10–P90: 2.5 — 11.1secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 16.7secs

Available for 737 of 743 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

S

Circular concentration: 74%

Mean Water Temperature

14.1°C
P10–P90: 12.6 — 15.8°C
Recorded extremes

11.7 — 16.8°C

Available for 742 of 743 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Mays

Historical baseline from 18,946 observations across 13 years.

Wave Height
1.2ft
0.6ft below mean
Historical mean 1.804ft
Wave Period
6.6s
0.2s below mean
Historical mean 6.8s
Water Temperature
14.1°C
0.9°C above mean
Historical mean 13.2°C

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Bracklesham Bay. Use the table on this page for a text version of the same measurements. To open hourly observations, use a linked day name in the table.

About Bracklesham Bay wave buoy

Bracklesham Bay is a Channel Coastal Observatory National Network wave station off the West Sussex coast. Its nearshore position records conditions entering the broad bay between Selsey and Hayling Island, supporting coastal management along an exposed beach frontage west of Chichester Harbour.

Its current data source reports wave height, wave period, wave direction, directional spread, wave power and sea temperature.

Metrics are rows; days run left to right.
Bracklesham Bay wave buoy daily means May 2023Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)1122121123211111111111111111211
Mean maximum wave height (ft)2222232234322221111221111221222
Mean peak period (s)1087677869898711676361266745453444
Mean zero-crossing period (s)4433344344443333333333333333333
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSSWconcentration 100%SSWconcentration 91%Sconcentration 93%Sconcentration 93%SSWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 98%SSWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 54%Variableconcentration 18%SSWconcentration 97%SWconcentration 69%SWconcentration 87%SWconcentration 98%Sconcentration 89%Sconcentration 96%SSWconcentration 88%SSWconcentration 49%SWconcentration 50%Sconcentration 86%SSWconcentration 92%Sconcentration 93%SEconcentration 90%SSEconcentration 98%SEconcentration 73%ESEconcentration 74%SEconcentration 77%SEconcentration 71%
Mean directional spread (°)23.425.828.026.226.123.623.624.026.920.622.326.432.628.327.128.627.331.431.236.429.031.331.826.929.527.127.029.826.925.924.9
Mean water temperature(°C)12.512.512.412.512.913.013.012.913.013.313.613.413.513.914.014.114.314.514.814.614.614.814.915.315.515.515.715.915.815.715.8

Swipe sideways to see more days.

Wave metric colour key

Colours move through the scale as each number increases. They do not by themselves mean that conditions are good, safe or suitable for you.

Wave & swell height0–40+ ft
Wave & swell period0–22+ s
Wind speed0–75 mph

The displayed numbers remain the source of truth; colour is an additional visual cue.

What does buoy wave power mean?

kW/m means kilowatts of wave power per metre of wave crest. It describes the rate at which the observed sea state carries energy past the buoy.

Unlike the shore-directed forecast value, buoy wave power is the total power at the observation point. It is not projected towards a particular beach and does not predict breaking wave height.

In deep water, wave power can be calculated with:

P is approximately 0.49 times significant wave height squared times wave energy period.

P is power in kW/m, Hs is significant wave height in metres, and Te is wave energy period in seconds.

  • Provider-reported power is used when available.
  • Otherwise, a value is calculated only when both significant height and a genuine energy period are available. The ≈ symbol marks calculated values.
  • A dash is shown instead of substituting peak, Tm02, zero-crossing or other period measurements.
  • Daily and monthly figures use the mean of hourly-normalized observation power values; they are not calculated from mean height and period.

Wave direction, spectrum, water depth and local bathymetry still matter. Wave power is best read alongside height, period and direction rather than as a standalone surf-quality score.

The observation data displayed on this page is from the Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme.

Learn how SurfHog combines, checks and summarizes observations in the data and methodology notes.

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