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Ch. Lightship wave buoy daily means for May 2021

Daily means from the Ch. Lightship wave buoy for May 2021, 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

740 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 3.9 ft (10th–90th percentile 1.6–9.2 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 7.7 seconds (10th–90th percentile 6–9 seconds). Typical wind was 20.8 mph (10th–90th percentile 9–34.4 mph) and mean water temperature was 10.9°C (10th–90th percentile 10.5–11.6°C). 2 of 3,700 checked values (0.1%) were excluded by quality control. Across 11 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 2.8 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 7.2 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

3.9ft
Mean: 5 ft
P10–P90: 1.6 — 9.2 ft
Recorded extremes

0.7 — 18.7 ft

Available for 739 of 740 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

7.7secs
P10–P90: 6 — 9secs
Recorded extremes

5 — 12secs

Mean Water Temperature

10.9°C
P10–P90: 10.5 — 11.6°C
Recorded extremes

10.1 — 12.2°C

Typical Wind

WSW, 20.8mph
Mean: 21.7 mph
P10–P90: 9 — 34.4 mph
Recorded extremes

0 — 51.9 mph

Circular concentration: 35%

Available for 739 of 740 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Mays

Historical baseline from 8,036 observations across 11 years.

Wave Height
5ft
2.2ft above mean
Historical mean 2.8ft
Wave Period
7.7s
0.5s above mean
Historical mean 7.2s
Water Temperature
10.9°C
0.7°C below mean
Historical mean 11.6°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 May 2021Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)115942369754544774QC rejected7157586423333
Mean observed period(s)8Reported9Reported7Reported7Reported6Reported9Reported8Reported7Reported10Reported8Reported7Reported8Reported6Reported8Reported7Reported8Reported8Reported8Reported6Reported7Reported9Reported8Reported7Reported8Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported9Reported9Reported8Reported9Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)-------------------------------
Mean wind directionNconcentration 80%WNWconcentration 87%SWconcentration 90%Wconcentration 95%WNWconcentration 95%NNWconcentration 60%ENEconcentration 38%Sconcentration 95%Sconcentration 98%SSWconcentration 98%SSWconcentration 87%SSEconcentration 42%NWconcentration 98%WNWconcentration 46%SWconcentration 75%SWconcentration 92%Wconcentration 99%WSWconcentration 94%Wconcentration 96%SSWconcentration 83%WSWconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 86%WSWconcentration 89%Wconcentration 84%Wconcentration 92%Variableconcentration 29%ENEconcentration 95%ENEconcentration 94%ENEconcentration 96%ENEconcentration 95%
Mean wind speed (mph)811303325111330192423202714232725202329402728312716612132018
Mean water temperature(°C)10.510.710.510.510.510.510.710.710.710.710.710.710.510.810.810.810.911.011.111.011.011.111.111.111.211.311.511.611.611.611.8

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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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