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Ch. Lightship wave buoy daily means for Apr 2019

Daily means from the Ch. Lightship wave buoy for Apr 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

717 wave-buoy observations covered all 30 days. Typical wave height was 3.6 ft (10th–90th percentile 2–5.9 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 8.1 seconds (10th–90th percentile 6–10 seconds). Typical wind was 18.3 mph (10th–90th percentile 9.2–32.2 mph) and mean water temperature was 10.7°C (10th–90th percentile 10.3–11.1°C). 4 of 3,585 checked values (0.1%) were excluded by quality control. Across 9 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 3.7 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 7.8 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

3.6ft
Mean: 4 ft
P10–P90: 2 — 5.9 ft
Recorded extremes

1 — 13.1 ft

Available for 715 of 717 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

8.1secs
P10–P90: 6 — 10secs
Recorded extremes

5 — 13secs

Available for 715 of 717 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

10.7°C
P10–P90: 10.3 — 11.1°C
Recorded extremes

10 — 11.9°C

Typical Wind

E, 18.3mph
Mean: 19.9 mph
P10–P90: 9.2 — 32.2 mph
Recorded extremes

3.4 — 53 mph

Circular concentration: 37%

Compared With Previous Aprils

Historical baseline from 6,423 observations across 9 years.

Wave Height
4ft
0.3ft above mean
Historical mean 3.7ft
Wave Period
8.1s
0.3s above mean
Historical mean 7.8s
Water Temperature
10.7°C
0.5°C above mean
Historical mean 10.2°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 Apr 2019Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)4335644QC rejected34444465343233245711523
Mean observed period(s)6Reported6Reported7Reported6Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported10Reported7Reported9Reported10Reported6Reported6Reported7Reported9Reported8Reported8Reported9Reported9Reported11Reported10Reported9Reported10Reported7Reported10Reported8Reported7Reported8Reported9Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)------------------------------
Mean wind directionEconcentration 91%Wconcentration 82%NWconcentration 83%SWconcentration 86%SEconcentration 85%ENEconcentration 92%Econcentration 91%SEconcentration 87%ENEconcentration 86%NNEconcentration 95%ENEconcentration 96%Econcentration 89%ESEconcentration 97%Econcentration 98%ESEconcentration 91%Wconcentration 38%ENEconcentration 63%ENEconcentration 96%NEconcentration 92%NNEconcentration 96%NEconcentration 92%Econcentration 74%Econcentration 87%Sconcentration 75%Sconcentration 91%SWconcentration 66%Wconcentration 98%WNWconcentration 97%ENEconcentration 68%ESEconcentration 98%
Mean wind speed (mph)20221526312622131219161925293010212217151313141724253722912
Mean water temperature(°C)10.510.410.210.210.410.510.510.610.610.510.510.410.410.310.310.510.610.610.710.811.011.011.011.011.011.010.910.911.211.4

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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