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Greenwich wave buoy daily means for Mar 2016

Daily means from the Greenwich wave buoy for Mar 2016, 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

742 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 2.3 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.7–9.2 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 6.5 seconds (10th–90th percentile 5–8 seconds). Typical wind was 19.7 mph (10th–90th percentile 6.9–34.4 mph) and mean water temperature was 9.2°C (10th–90th percentile 8.9–9.4°C). 10 of 3,710 checked values (0.3%) were excluded by quality control. Across 5 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 2.4 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 6.3 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

2.3ft
Mean: 3.9 ft
P10–P90: 0.7 — 9.2 ft
Recorded extremes

0 — 27.9 ft

Available for 740 of 742 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

6.5secs
P10–P90: 5 — 8secs
Recorded extremes

4 — 10secs

Available for 734 of 742 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

9.2°C
P10–P90: 8.9 — 9.4°C
Recorded extremes

8.6 — 9.9°C

Typical Wind

Variable, 19.7mph
Mean: 20.2 mph
P10–P90: 6.9 — 34.4 mph
Recorded extremes

2.2 — 58.8 mph

Circular concentration: 27%

Compared With Previous Marchs

Historical baseline from 3,256 observations across 5 years.

Wave Height
3.9ft
1.5ft above mean
Historical mean 2.4ft
Wave Period
6.5s
0.2s above mean
Historical mean 6.3s
Water Temperature
9.2°C
0.7°C above mean
Historical mean 8.5°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 Mar 2016Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)49632221QC rejected211242421221012349201384
Mean observed period(s)6Reported8Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported6Reported5Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported6Reported6Reported6Reported6Reported6Reported7Reported6Reported5Reported5Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported6Reported7Reported8Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)-------------------------------
Mean wind directionSWconcentration 94%Wconcentration 96%Wconcentration 72%Wconcentration 73%Nconcentration 84%NWconcentration 88%NNWconcentration 98%WSWconcentration 57%SEconcentration 48%NNEconcentration 95%NNEconcentration 92%NNEconcentration 96%NEconcentration 96%NEconcentration 98%NEconcentration 92%NEconcentration 98%NEconcentration 96%NEconcentration 96%NEconcentration 99%NEconcentration 97%NNWconcentration 61%NNEconcentration 95%Variableconcentration 17%WSWconcentration 89%WSWconcentration 56%SSWconcentration 76%SSWconcentration 95%WSWconcentration 79%WSWconcentration 91%WSWconcentration 95%NNWconcentration 79%
Mean wind speed (mph)28QC rejected28171717181530119922302029241423188671716283042271812
Mean water temperature(°C)9.49.39.39.39.29.29.19.19.29.29.19.29.29.19.19.19.08.98.88.89.09.19.19.09.19.19.29.39.39.49.5

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.

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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