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Ch. Lightship wave buoy daily means for Feb 2011

Daily means from the Ch. Lightship wave buoy for Feb 2011, 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

672 wave-buoy observations covered all 28 days. Typical wave height was 7.2 ft (10th–90th percentile 3.9–10.8 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 9.9 seconds (10th–90th percentile 8–12 seconds). Typical wind was 20.8 mph (10th–90th percentile 11.4–32.3 mph) and mean water temperature was 9.2°C (10th–90th percentile 9–10°C). 8 of 3,360 checked values (0.2%) were excluded by quality control.

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

Typical Wave Height

7.2ft
Mean: 7.3 ft
P10–P90: 3.9 — 10.8 ft
Recorded extremes

2 — 15.4 ft

Available for 670 of 672 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

9.9secs
P10–P90: 8 — 12secs
Recorded extremes

4 — 16secs

Available for 670 of 672 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

9.2°C
P10–P90: 9 — 10°C
Recorded extremes

8 — 10°C

Available for 670 of 672 hourly samples

Typical Wind

SW, 20.8mph
Mean: 21.7 mph
P10–P90: 11.4 — 32.3 mph
Recorded extremes

4.7 — 45 mph

Circular concentration: 55%

Available for 670 of 672 hourly samples

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Ch. Lightship. 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 Ch. Lightship wave buoy

Channel Lightship (WMO 62103) is a UK Met Office station in the central English Channel. Its offshore position provides marine observations away from the immediate influence of the coast and is useful for tracking conditions along this major shipping route. The feed can include wind, pressure, air and sea temperature, visibility and wave observations when available.

Metrics are rows; days run left to right.
Ch. Lightship wave buoy daily means Feb 2011Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)35610111010558611119911855766567QC rejected6QC rejected
Mean observed period(s)10Reported9Reported10Reported9Reported9Reported9Reported9Reported10Reported9Reported11Reported9Reported14Reported10Reported11Reported10Reported12Reported12Reported10Reported8Reported12Reported10Reported11Reported9Reported10Reported10Reported10Reported8Reported7Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)----------------------------
Mean wind directionWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 92%WSWconcentration 93%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 96%SWconcentration 82%SEconcentration 61%Sconcentration 93%SSWconcentration 93%SSWconcentration 95%WSWconcentration 83%SSWconcentration 76%SWconcentration 89%SSWconcentration 85%SSEconcentration 85%Econcentration 97%SSEconcentration 91%Wconcentration 73%SEconcentration 49%SEconcentration 63%SWconcentration 62%SWconcentration 87%WSWconcentration 96%SSWconcentration 95%WNWconcentration 77%NWconcentration 88%NNEconcentration 94%
Mean wind speed (mph)16212237342724152021191928192923191621131510201721272725
Mean water temperature(°C)8.79.09.09.09.09.09.09.09.09.09.09.09.09.09.09.09.09.09.39.29.29.39.610.010.010.09.39.0

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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.

Which wave period is shown?

The table shows the best period measurement supplied for each observation. It is not necessarily the energy period used to calculate wave power.

Tp
Peak period: the period at the strongest spectral peak.
Tavg
The provider's average wave period.
Tm02
A mean period calculated from the wave spectrum.
Tz
Mean zero-crossing period.
Reported
A legacy value whose period type was not recorded.
Mixed
A daily or monthly mean containing more than one period type.

Wave power needs a genuine energy period (Te). SurfHog does not substitute Tp, Tavg, Tm02 or Tz when Te is missing.

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 UK Met Office.

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