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Greenwich wave buoy daily means for Oct 2015

Daily means from the Greenwich wave buoy for Oct 2015, 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

743 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1.6 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.7–3.6 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 5.9 seconds (10th–90th percentile 4–7 seconds). Typical wind was 18.3 mph (10th–90th percentile 9.2–27.7 mph) and mean water temperature was 15.6°C (10th–90th percentile 15.1–16.2°C). 9 of 3,715 checked values (0.2%) were excluded by quality control. Across 5 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 3 ft and mean wave period was below the same-month mean of 6.1 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

1.6ft
Mean: 1.9 ft
P10–P90: 0.7 — 3.6 ft
Recorded extremes

0 — 8.2 ft

Available for 741 of 743 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

5.9secs
P10–P90: 4 — 7secs
Recorded extremes

4 — 26secs

Available for 736 of 743 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

15.6°C
P10–P90: 15.1 — 16.2°C
Recorded extremes

12 — 16.7°C

Typical Wind

Variable, 18.3mph
Mean: 18.5 mph
P10–P90: 9.2 — 27.7 mph
Recorded extremes

2.2 — 36.9 mph

Circular concentration: 22%

Compared With Previous Octobers

Historical baseline from 3,713 observations across 5 years.

Wave Height
1.9ft
1.1ft below mean
Historical mean 3ft
Wave Period
5.9s
0.2s below mean
Historical mean 6.1s
Water Temperature
15.6°C
0.5°C below mean
Historical mean 16.1°C

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Greenwich. 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 Greenwich wave buoy

Greenwich Lightship (WMO 62305) is a UK Met Office station in the southern North Sea on the Greenwich meridian. It monitors marine conditions between the Dover Strait and the Thames approaches. The station feed can include wind, wave height, pressure, visibility, and air and sea temperature.

Metrics are rows; days run left to right.
Greenwich wave buoy daily means Oct 2015Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)3200336211212222211123222222432
Mean observed period(s)6Reported5Reported5ReportedQC rejected6Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported4Reported4Reported5Reported6Reported8Reported6Reported6Reported5Reported7Reported7Reported6Reported6Reported6Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)-------------------------------
Mean wind directionENEconcentration 97%ENEconcentration 97%NNWconcentration 55%Variableconcentration 24%SSEconcentration 96%Sconcentration 89%Wconcentration 96%NWconcentration 97%NEconcentration 82%ENEconcentration 95%ENEconcentration 96%NNEconcentration 98%Nconcentration 96%Nconcentration 99%NNEconcentration 79%Nconcentration 98%Nconcentration 99%NEconcentration 86%NNEconcentration 95%Nconcentration 94%Wconcentration 89%WNWconcentration 91%SWconcentration 45%SSWconcentration 76%NNEconcentration 57%SEconcentration 89%SEconcentration 88%WSWconcentration 57%Sconcentration 91%SSEconcentration 93%ESEconcentration 92%
Mean wind speed (mph)2720714232529101323211622241623201315132021111913211815252314
Mean water temperature(°C)16.316.216.216.216.216.216.116.116.115.915.915.815.615.515.415.415.415.415.315.415.315.315.315.315.115.115.215.115.015.115.1

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.

Which wave period is shown?

The table shows the best period measurement supplied for each observation. It is not necessarily the energy period used to calculate wave power.

Tp
Peak period: the period at the strongest spectral peak.
Tavg
The provider's average wave period.
Tm02
A mean period calculated from the wave spectrum.
Tz
Mean zero-crossing period.
Reported
A legacy value whose period type was not recorded.
Mixed
A daily or monthly mean containing more than one period type.

Wave power needs a genuine energy period (Te). SurfHog does not substitute Tp, Tavg, Tm02 or Tz when Te is missing.

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.

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