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Ch. Lightship wave buoy daily means for Dec 2017

Daily means from the Ch. Lightship wave buoy for Dec 2017, 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

725 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 4.9 ft (10th–90th percentile 1.6–11.5 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 7.5 seconds (10th–90th percentile 6–9 seconds). Typical wind was 25.3 mph (10th–90th percentile 10.7–41.4 mph) and mean water temperature was 12.2°C (10th–90th percentile 11.6–13°C). All 3,625 checked values passed quality control. Across 7 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 6.6 ft and mean wave period was below the same-month mean of 8 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

4.9ft
Mean: 6 ft
P10–P90: 1.6 — 11.5 ft
Recorded extremes

1 — 18 ft

Mean Wave Period

7.5secs
P10–P90: 6 — 9secs
Recorded extremes

5 — 12secs

Mean Water Temperature

12.2°C
P10–P90: 11.6 — 13°C
Recorded extremes

11.3 — 13.1°C

Typical Wind

WNW, 25.3mph
Mean: 25.8 mph
P10–P90: 10.7 — 41.4 mph
Recorded extremes

3.4 — 55.3 mph

Circular concentration: 63%

Compared With Previous Decembers

Historical baseline from 5,016 observations across 7 years.

Wave Height
6ft
0.6ft below mean
Historical mean 6.6ft
Wave Period
7.5s
0.5s below mean
Historical mean 8s
Water Temperature
12.2°C
0.1°C above mean
Historical mean 12.1°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 Dec 2017Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)52212410731010681184443444347810581215
Mean observed period(s)6Reported5Reported5Reported6Reported9Reported7Reported8Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported8Reported10Reported7Reported8Reported8Reported6Reported6Reported7Reported9Reported10Reported9Reported8Reported8Reported6Reported7Reported8Reported8Reported9Reported8Reported9Reported9Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)-------------------------------
Mean wind directionNconcentration 98%Nconcentration 90%NNWconcentration 96%NWconcentration 96%Wconcentration 84%SSWconcentration 97%SWconcentration 75%NWconcentration 98%Wconcentration 51%WSWconcentration 75%Nconcentration 81%Wconcentration 70%Wconcentration 93%Wconcentration 97%NWconcentration 90%NWconcentration 94%WNWconcentration 91%NNEconcentration 65%WSWconcentration 77%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 96%WNWconcentration 82%WSWconcentration 87%WSWconcentration 98%SSWconcentration 80%WSWconcentration 82%NWconcentration 89%WNWconcentration 77%WSWconcentration 83%WSWconcentration 89%WSWconcentration 89%
Mean wind speed (mph)32152115112735361837322038393325231514162113162533333620353639
Mean water temperature(°C)12.912.913.113.113.013.013.012.512.412.412.212.112.312.012.011.912.012.011.912.012.012.012.011.911.911.711.511.411.511.711.7

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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