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Dawlish wave buoy daily means for May 2016

Daily means from the Dawlish wave buoy for May 2016, 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

1,488 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.5–2.1 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 5 seconds (10th–90th percentile 2.8–9.1 seconds). Mean water temperature was 12.4°C (10th–90th percentile 10.8–14.1°C). 12 of 5,905 checked values (0.2%) were excluded by quality control. Across 5 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 1.4 ft and mean wave period was below the same-month mean of 5.5 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

1ft
Mean: 1.2 ft
P10–P90: 0.5 — 2.1 ft
Recorded extremes

0.3 — 4.1 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

5secs
P10–P90: 2.8 — 9.1secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 15.4secs

Available for 741 of 744 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

SE

Circular concentration: 77%

Mean Water Temperature

12.4°C
P10–P90: 10.8 — 14.1°C
Recorded extremes

9.9 — 15.8°C

Compared With Previous Mays

Historical baseline from 7,378 observations across 5 years.

Wave Height
1.2ft
0.2ft below mean
Historical mean 1.411ft
Wave Period
5s
0.5s below mean
Historical mean 5.5s
Water Temperature
12.4°C
0.4°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 2016Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)1111111221001210121231122111111
Mean maximum wave height (ft)2212222331111311222342134211111
Mean peak period (s)7397354444544547546446855445543
Mean zero-crossing period (s)3344333333433333334334444334333
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSconcentration 96%SSWconcentration 85%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 98%SEconcentration 97%SEconcentration 97%SEconcentration 96%ESEconcentration 99%ESEconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 97%SSEconcentration 88%ESEconcentration 65%Econcentration 73%ESEconcentration 95%SSEconcentration 85%Sconcentration 81%Sconcentration 96%Sconcentration 73%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 98%Sconcentration 97%SSEconcentration 74%SSEconcentration 91%SEconcentration 94%SEconcentration 99%SEconcentration 99%SEconcentration 99%ESEconcentration 100%ESEconcentration 100%Econcentration 63%NNEconcentration 39%
Mean directional spread (°)28.924.029.733.229.829.835.429.730.935.734.534.129.622.824.738.522.424.824.827.524.432.233.827.622.125.827.826.025.026.623.3
Mean water temperature(°C)10.310.410.811.011.311.611.611.711.712.612.712.712.912.713.013.212.912.212.312.312.012.512.112.312.513.013.614.514.414.414.2

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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