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Saint-Jean-de-Luz wave buoy observations on Thu, May 19, 2016

Hourly readings from the Saint-Jean-de-Luz wave buoy for Thu, May 19, 2016, including available wave height, period, direction, wind and sea temperature data.

Last observation shown

Oldest observation available

Daily means for

Latest

Period Summary

Programmatically generated summary. Hog Says

48 wave-buoy observations were recorded during the day. Typical wave height was 6.1 ft (10th–90th percentile 5.3–6.4 ft), while mean peak wave period was 8.7 seconds (10th–90th percentile 7–10.5 seconds). Typical calculated wave power was approximately 12.6 kW/m (10th–90th percentile 10.7–15.4 kW/m), derived from significant wave height and energy period. All 144 checked values passed quality control.

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

Line chart showing wave height, wave period and sea temperature for Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Use the detailed observations table below for the same data in text form.

About Saint-Jean-de-Luz wave buoy

Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a CANDHIS directional buoy on the French Basque coast near the Spanish border. Maintained through the Cerema-coordinated national observatory and local partners, it provides offshore context for a naturally embayed and partly protected coast exposed to southern Bay of Biscay swell.

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

Metrics are rows; hours run left to right. Times use your device time zone.
Saint-Jean-de-Luz wave buoy hourly observations Thu, May 19, 2016Last observation shown
Metric
Significant wave height (ft)656667666676666666666666665666667676666665655555
Maximum wave height (ft)89912811989101199111199111010910109101089101091011101010910121097999898
Peak period (s)66677777777788788878877711111181111101191011101011101011911911101010
Average period (s)667777777777787777888888888889999999999898999999
Mean period Tm02 (s)555655566666666666666666666667777777777776777777
Peak wave directionNWNWWNWNWNWNWNWWNWWNWWNWWNWWNWWNWNWWNWWNWWNWWNWWNWWNWNWWNWWNWWNWWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNW
Directional spread (°)29.032.325.424.428.023.429.228.820.924.723.923.626.723.725.623.728.323.420.122.925.523.323.026.023.928.731.228.727.027.528.625.225.427.426.627.625.724.123.826.125.527.426.421.926.424.425.422.9
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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