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Ch. Lightship wave buoy daily means for Oct 2019

Daily means from the Ch. Lightship wave buoy for Oct 2019, 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

741 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 5.2 ft (10th–90th percentile 2.3–8.9 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 7.5 seconds (10th–90th percentile 6–9 seconds). Typical wind was 24.2 mph (10th–90th percentile 10.3–34.4 mph) and mean water temperature was 15.7°C (10th–90th percentile 14.9–16.3°C). 2 of 3,705 checked values (0.1%) were excluded by quality control. Across 9 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 4.4 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 7.4 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

5.2ft
Mean: 5.4 ft
P10–P90: 2.3 — 8.9 ft
Recorded extremes

0.7 — 14.4 ft

Available for 740 of 741 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

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

5 — 11secs

Available for 740 of 741 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

15.7°C
P10–P90: 14.9 — 16.3°C
Recorded extremes

14.7 — 16.5°C

Typical Wind

Variable, 24.2mph
Mean: 23.2 mph
P10–P90: 10.3 — 34.4 mph
Recorded extremes

0 — 45 mph

Circular concentration: 25%

Compared With Previous Octobers

Historical baseline from 6,617 observations across 9 years.

Wave Height
5.4ft
1ft above mean
Historical mean 4.4ft
Wave Period
7.5s
0.1s above mean
Historical mean 7.4s
Water Temperature
15.7°C
0.1°C above mean
Historical mean 15.6°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 Oct 2019Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)75QC rejectedQC rejected6668867443466953311361243665
Mean observed period(s)7Reported8Reported7Reported9Reported9Reported8Reported9Reported10Reported8Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported8Reported8Reported8Reported8Reported6Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported7Reported9Reported8Reported6Reported7Reported6Reported7Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)-------------------------------
Mean wind directionWconcentration 68%Nconcentration 79%Sconcentration 85%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 75%WNWconcentration 89%WSWconcentration 71%Wconcentration 98%Wconcentration 95%WSWconcentration 87%SWconcentration 87%WSWconcentration 36%SWconcentration 49%Variableconcentration 27%SWconcentration 83%Wconcentration 74%SWconcentration 75%WSWconcentration 91%Wconcentration 91%Nconcentration 91%NNEconcentration 96%ESEconcentration 55%ENEconcentration 85%WNWconcentration 70%SSWconcentration 93%SWconcentration 55%NNEconcentration 89%Econcentration 95%Econcentration 94%ESEconcentration 98%SEconcentration 77%
Mean wind speed (mph)2915223318282228332932922172021273421191871418313321283533QC rejected
Mean water temperature(°C)16.516.416.316.316.416.316.116.116.016.016.115.815.915.815.915.815.715.615.515.415.315.415.415.415.415.415.015.014.914.814.9

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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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