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Dawlish wave buoy daily means for May 2015

Daily means from the Dawlish wave buoy for May 2015, 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

1,487 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1.3 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.5–3.3 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 5.8 seconds (10th–90th percentile 2.8–11.5 seconds). Mean water temperature was 12.1°C (10th–90th percentile 10.8–13.2°C). 13 of 5,845 checked values (0.2%) were excluded by quality control. Across 4 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 1.4 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 5.4 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

1.3ft
Mean: 1.6 ft
P10–P90: 0.5 — 3.3 ft
Recorded extremes

0.3 — 6.6 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

5.8secs
P10–P90: 2.8 — 11.5secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 15.4secs

Available for 742 of 744 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

SSE

Circular concentration: 80%

Mean Water Temperature

12.1°C
P10–P90: 10.8 — 13.2°C
Recorded extremes

10.6 — 14.6°C

Available for 728 of 744 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Mays

Historical baseline from 5,891 observations across 4 years.

Wave Height
1.6ft
0.2ft above mean
Historical mean 1.378ft
Wave Period
5.8s
0.4s above mean
Historical mean 5.4s
Water Temperature
12.1°C
0.1°C above mean
Historical mean 12°C

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Dawlish. 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 Dawlish wave buoy

Dawlish is a Channel Coastal Observatory National Network wave station in the western part of Lyme Bay off south Devon. It provides nearshore context for waves reaching the Dawlish and Teignmouth frontage, including the exposed coastal railway and beaches backed by cliffs and urban development.

Its current data source reports wave height, wave period, wave direction, directional spread, wave power and sea temperature.

Metrics are rows; days run left to right.
Dawlish wave buoy daily means May 2015Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)4432432222111221121111111011112
Mean maximum wave height (ft)6753642332221422132111111111223
Mean peak period (s)555658546571376115758754353-45455
Mean zero-crossing period (s)4444443343344443433443333433333
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionESEconcentration 97%ESEconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 92%SSEconcentration 88%Sconcentration 86%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%SEconcentration 90%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 100%SSEconcentration 95%SEconcentration 89%SSEconcentration 98%SSWconcentration 45%Sconcentration 98%Sconcentration 97%Sconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 89%SSEconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 56%SSEconcentration 72%Variableconcentration 21%Sconcentration 51%SSEconcentration 63%Sconcentration 93%SSWconcentration 66%Sconcentration 97%Sconcentration 78%
Mean directional spread (°)18.621.026.925.422.024.326.629.523.527.730.532.328.124.030.429.527.224.632.028.628.331.130.228.728.244.027.527.220.826.624.9
Mean water temperature(°C)10.610.610.911.011.010.811.011.211.411.411.912.112.212.112.412.512.512.211.912.012.613.013.012.912.712.913.313.312.912.612.5

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.

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 Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme.

Learn how SurfHog combines, checks and summarizes observations in the data and methodology notes.

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