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Ch. Lightship wave buoy daily means for Jan 2020

Daily means from the Ch. Lightship wave buoy for Jan 2020, 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

723 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 5.9 ft (10th–90th percentile 2.6–11.2 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 8.6 seconds (10th–90th percentile 7–11 seconds). Typical wind was 24.2 mph (10th–90th percentile 12.8–35.8 mph) and mean water temperature was 10.9°C (10th–90th percentile 10.5–11.3°C). 6 of 3,615 checked values (0.2%) were excluded by quality control. Across 9 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 6.4 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 8.1 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

5.9ft
Mean: 6.5 ft
P10–P90: 2.6 — 11.2 ft
Recorded extremes

0 — 21 ft

Available for 722 of 723 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

8.6secs
P10–P90: 7 — 11secs
Recorded extremes

5 — 16secs

Available for 720 of 723 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

10.9°C
P10–P90: 10.5 — 11.3°C
Recorded extremes

10.2 — 11.4°C

Available for 722 of 723 hourly samples

Typical Wind

SW, 24.2mph
Mean: 24.1 mph
P10–P90: 12.8 — 35.8 mph
Recorded extremes

4.7 — 50.8 mph

Circular concentration: 47%

Available for 722 of 723 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Januarys

Historical baseline from 6,620 observations across 9 years.

Wave Height
6.5ft
0.1ft above mean
Historical mean 6.4ft
Wave Period
8.6s
0.5s above mean
Historical mean 8.1s
Water Temperature
10.9°C
In line with the historical mean
Historical mean 10.9°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 Jan 2020Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)4595357891081010QC rejected1099543433224612756
Mean observed period(s)8Reported8Reported9Reported9Reported8Reported7Reported8Reported11Reported10Reported10Reported8Reported9Reported8Reported10Reported9Reported8Reported8Reported9Reported9Reported10Reported14Reported10Reported6Reported8Reported9Reported7Reported8Reported8Reported9Reported7Reported7Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)-------------------------------
Mean wind directionSconcentration 96%SSWconcentration 95%WNWconcentration 72%Wconcentration 97%SWconcentration 91%SWconcentration 89%SWconcentration 94%SWconcentration 85%SWconcentration 73%Wconcentration 81%SWconcentration 98%WSWconcentration 94%SSWconcentration 94%SSWconcentration 97%WSWconcentration 93%Sconcentration 98%WSWconcentration 92%NNEconcentration 72%NEconcentration 96%NEconcentration 54%NEconcentration 70%NEconcentration 94%ENEconcentration 78%ENEconcentration 56%Sconcentration 94%SWconcentration 93%SWconcentration 94%Wconcentration 98%WSWconcentration 90%SWconcentration 85%SWconcentration 98%
Mean wind speed (mph)12242718172423192723333133382433321719111119261617252938252728
Mean water temperature(°C)11.311.311.411.211.211.111.211.311.211.011.111.111.011.111.111.111.010.910.710.710.710.510.610.510.510.710.610.410.510.610.6

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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