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Dawlish wave buoy daily means for May 2023

Daily means from the Dawlish wave buoy for May 2023, 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

1,482 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.5–3.2 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 6.1 seconds (10th–90th percentile 2.9–11.1 seconds). Mean water temperature was 13.4°C (10th–90th percentile 12.1–15°C). 28 of 5,841 checked values (0.5%) were excluded by quality control. Across 12 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 5.9 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

1ft
Mean: 1.5 ft
P10–P90: 0.5 — 3.2 ft
Recorded extremes

0.2 — 5.4 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

6.1secs
P10–P90: 2.9 — 11.1secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 16.7secs

Available for 738 of 742 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

SE

Circular concentration: 79%

Mean Water Temperature

13.4°C
P10–P90: 12.1 — 15°C
Recorded extremes

11.6 — 17.7°C

Compared With Previous Mays

Historical baseline from 17,766 observations across 12 years.

Wave Height
1.5ft
0.1ft above mean
Historical mean 1.378ft
Wave Period
6.1s
0.2s above mean
Historical mean 5.9s
Water Temperature
13.4°C
1°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 2023Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)1144221211112111111111111221333
Mean maximum wave height (ft)1277342322122111111221111342455
Mean peak period (s)106664574881255746649854854565666
Mean zero-crossing period (s)4344334344434434333343343444444
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSSEconcentration 99%SEconcentration 92%ESEconcentration 100%SEconcentration 94%SSEconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 98%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 99%ESEconcentration 74%ESEconcentration 97%SEconcentration 92%NNWconcentration 41%SSEconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 96%SEconcentration 34%Variableconcentration 23%SEconcentration 87%ESEconcentration 99%Econcentration 60%SEconcentration 90%ESEconcentration 99%ESEconcentration 84%ESEconcentration 100%ESEconcentration 100%ESEconcentration 100%ESEconcentration 100%ESEconcentration 100%ESEconcentration 100%
Mean directional spread (°)41.531.818.322.330.828.929.326.736.030.231.529.322.329.127.533.632.930.133.532.224.628.532.725.229.618.017.721.317.516.618.1
Mean water temperature(°C)12.612.411.911.812.312.912.812.412.712.312.712.413.113.613.012.913.313.513.213.714.013.814.214.514.514.715.115.914.814.814.9

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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