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Dawlish wave buoy daily means for Dec 2020

Daily means from the Dawlish wave buoy for Dec 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

1,473 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1.6 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.7–5.3 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 7.7 seconds (10th–90th percentile 3.7–13.6 seconds). Mean water temperature was 10.9°C (10th–90th percentile 9.8–11.7°C). 27 of 5,802 checked values (0.5%) were excluded by quality control. Across 10 comparable years, mean wave height was the same as the same-month mean of 2.3 ft and mean wave period was the same as the same-month mean of 7.7 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

1.6ft
Mean: 2.3 ft
P10–P90: 0.7 — 5.3 ft
Recorded extremes

0.4 — 10.4 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

7.7secs
P10–P90: 3.7 — 13.6secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 20secs

Available for 733 of 739 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

SSE

Circular concentration: 89%

Mean Water Temperature

10.9°C
P10–P90: 9.8 — 11.7°C
Recorded extremes

8.2 — 12.3°C

Compared With Previous Decembers

Historical baseline from 14,552 observations across 10 years.

Wave Height
2.3ft
0ft above mean
Historical mean 2.297ft
Wave Period
7.7s
In line with the historical mean
Historical mean 7.7s
Water Temperature
10.9°C
0.2°C above mean
Historical mean 10.7°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 Dec 2020Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)1111221124214436375242411232111
Mean maximum wave height (ft)112242213632655105107363621352111
Mean peak period (s)45514674-7661677777781268876310151286
Mean zero-crossing period (s)4444453444464445454444435355555
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSEconcentration 45%SEconcentration 92%Sconcentration 97%Sconcentration 99%SEconcentration 90%SEconcentration 100%ESEconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 99%Sconcentration 97%SSEconcentration 95%SSEconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 100%SSEconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 98%Sconcentration 100%Sconcentration 100%Variableconcentration 15%SEconcentration 100%SSWconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 90%SSEconcentration 78%SSEconcentration 95%SSEconcentration 98%
Mean directional spread (°)30.629.926.344.625.524.129.035.427.023.528.338.826.327.427.023.824.321.925.529.123.726.722.434.128.717.722.936.634.632.832.9
Mean water temperature(°C)11.711.511.711.311.610.810.810.110.610.710.310.510.811.110.911.010.911.611.610.811.611.411.611.010.011.210.910.410.59.69.2

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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.

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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