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Cap Ferret wave buoy daily means for Jan 2026

Daily means from the Cap Ferret wave buoy for Jan 2026, 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 10.2 ft (10th–90th percentile 2.2–19.2 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 12.2 seconds (10th–90th percentile 8.4–15.6 seconds). Typical calculated wave power was approximately 53.2 kW/m (10th–90th percentile 1.5–197.8 kW/m), derived from significant wave height and energy period. 20 of 4,459 checked values (0.4%) were excluded by quality control. Across 12 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 8.3 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 12 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

10.2ft
Mean: 10.5 ft
P10–P90: 2.2 — 19.2 ft
Recorded extremes

1.1 — 24.7 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

12.2secs
P10–P90: 8.4 — 15.6secs
Recorded extremes

2.7 — 19.4secs

Available for 743 of 744 hourly samples

Typical Wave Power

Approximately 53.19kW/m
Mean: 75.8kW/m
P10–P90: 1.46 — 197.78kW/m
Recorded extremes

0.39 — 375.12kW/m

Calculated from significant wave height and energy period.

Typical Observed Wind

-, -mph
Mean: - mph
P10–P90: - — - mph

Available for 0 of 744 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

-°C
P10–P90: - — -°C

Available for 0 of 744 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Januarys

Historical baseline from 17,669 observations across 12 years.

Wave Height
10.5ft
2.2ft above mean
Historical mean 8.301ft
Wave Period
12.2s
0.2s above mean
Historical mean 12s
Water Temperature
–
Not enough comparable data

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Cap Ferret. 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 Cap Ferret wave buoy

Cap Ferret is a long-running CANDHIS directional buoy off the Aquitaine coast, operated within France's national in-situ sea-state observatory. It provides an offshore reference for the energetic Bay of Biscay swell approaching the Arcachon inlet and the long, sandy and erosion-prone Landes coastline.

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

Metrics are rows; days run left to right.
Cap Ferret wave buoy daily means Jan 2026Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)222326613QC rejected157787911118581217191919151114131720
Mean maximum wave height (ft)323549921312312111211131617128121927292928231622202630
Mean peak period (s)1313105108691212121011121216151211151314141514141216151315
Mean average period (s)644577681110109101191313118121012121312121014121212
Mean period Tm02 (s)4334565788767879109687991099710999
Mean peak wave directionWNWconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 92%WNWconcentration 67%NNWconcentration 95%WNWconcentration 83%WNWconcentration 85%Wconcentration 82%WNWconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 95%WNWconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%Wconcentration 97%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%Wconcentration 97%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 100%
Mean directional spread (°)27.138.032.020.724.122.227.922.517.716.718.317.417.115.919.512.913.616.520.515.318.315.615.213.416.215.117.313.214.316.114.9
Mean water temperature(°C)-------------------------------

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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 Cerema CANDHIS coastal wave observatory.

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

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