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Dawlish wave buoy daily means for May 2020

Daily means from the Dawlish wave buoy for May 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

1,484 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1.2 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.5–3.5 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 7.1 seconds (10th–90th percentile 3.1–12.5 seconds). Mean water temperature was 13.2°C (10th–90th percentile 11.6–15°C). 33 of 5,852 checked values (0.6%) were excluded by quality control. Across 9 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 1.3 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 5.8 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

1.2ft
Mean: 1.7 ft
P10–P90: 0.5 — 3.5 ft
Recorded extremes

0.3 — 8 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

7.1secs
P10–P90: 3.1 — 12.5secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 16.7secs

Available for 740 of 743 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

SSE

Circular concentration: 84%

Mean Water Temperature

13.2°C
P10–P90: 11.6 — 15°C
Recorded extremes

10.8 — 17.3°C

Compared With Previous Mays

Historical baseline from 13,324 observations across 9 years.

Wave Height
1.7ft
0.4ft above mean
Historical mean 1.345ft
Wave Period
7.1s
1.3s above mean
Historical mean 5.8s
Water Temperature
13.2°C
0.8°C above mean
Historical mean 12.4°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 2020Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)1112QC rejected31102532321111112211112322
Mean maximum wave height (ft)2123952113843531111113321113433
Mean peak period (s)117467659137864664646996119912136554
Mean zero-crossing period (s)3333543443543443333433344443433
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%SEconcentration 97%SEconcentration 82%ESEconcentration 100%ESEconcentration 100%SEconcentration 96%Sconcentration 97%Sconcentration 81%ESEconcentration 44%ESEconcentration 98%ESEconcentration 99%ESEconcentration 96%ESEconcentration 100%ESEconcentration 100%SSEconcentration 42%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 99%Sconcentration 97%Sconcentration 97%Sconcentration 88%SSEconcentration 99%Sconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 99%SEconcentration 95%ESEconcentration 100%SEconcentration 100%ESEconcentration 99%
Mean directional spread (°)30.829.130.126.416.521.230.433.640.829.617.422.822.416.819.324.426.824.829.632.634.922.633.828.332.438.638.924.120.221.423.0
Mean water temperature(°C)11.511.611.911.711.612.012.613.113.713.012.512.612.612.412.712.913.513.913.914.214.613.412.413.513.514.214.714.814.715.715.5

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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