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Ch. Lightship wave buoy daily means for Nov 2012

Daily means from the Ch. Lightship wave buoy for Nov 2012, 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

720 wave-buoy observations covered all 30 days. Typical wave height was 4.6 ft (10th–90th percentile 2–8.5 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 7.3 seconds (10th–90th percentile 6–9 seconds). Typical wind was 21.9 mph (10th–90th percentile 10.4–34.5 mph) and mean water temperature was 13.4°C (10th–90th percentile 12.7–13.9°C). 3 of 3,579 checked values (0.1%) were excluded by quality control. Across 2 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 5.6 ft and mean wave period was below the same-month mean of 7.9 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

4.6ft
Mean: 5 ft
P10–P90: 2 — 8.5 ft
Recorded extremes

1.3 — 17.1 ft

Available for 716 of 720 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

7.3secs
P10–P90: 6 — 9secs
Recorded extremes

4 — 11secs

Available for 717 of 720 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

13.4°C
P10–P90: 12.7 — 13.9°C
Recorded extremes

12.2 — 14.4°C

Available for 717 of 720 hourly samples

Typical Wind

WSW, 21.9mph
Mean: 22.5 mph
P10–P90: 10.4 — 34.5 mph
Recorded extremes

3.4 — 54.1 mph

Circular concentration: 35%

Available for 714 of 720 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Novembers

Historical baseline from 1,403 observations across 2 years.

Wave Height
5ft
0.6ft below mean
Historical mean 5.6ft
Wave Period
7.3s
0.6s below mean
Historical mean 7.9s
Water Temperature
13.4°C
0.6°C below mean
Historical mean 14°C

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 Nov 2012Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)77565321344435422278711851086532
Mean observed period(s)7Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported6Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported8Reported7Reported7Reported10Reported10Reported8Reported6Reported8Reported7Reported8Reported8Reported8Reported10Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported7Reported6Reported6Reported9Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)------------------------------
Mean wind directionWconcentration 97%Wconcentration 97%WSWconcentration 96%WSWconcentration 77%Nconcentration 65%NWconcentration 88%Wconcentration 97%Wconcentration 95%SWconcentration 93%Wconcentration 91%WNWconcentration 84%WSWconcentration 93%SSWconcentration 93%ESEconcentration 93%Econcentration 95%SEconcentration 84%NWconcentration 66%Variableconcentration 2%Sconcentration 100%Sconcentration 82%SWconcentration 66%SSWconcentration 89%SWconcentration 86%SEconcentration 83%SWconcentration 81%WNWconcentration 68%Nconcentration 95%Nconcentration 97%Nconcentration 94%NNWconcentration 89%
Mean wind speed (mph)32302628212121141922142117191415191230273138142839243130138
Mean water temperature(°C)14.214.114.013.913.813.813.813.813.813.713.613.613.713.613.513.513.513.413.313.413.313.313.113.113.112.912.812.612.412.3

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.

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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