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Greenwich wave buoy daily means for Feb 2017

Daily means from the Greenwich wave buoy for Feb 2017, 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

668 wave-buoy observations covered all 28 days. Typical wave height was 3 ft (10th–90th percentile 1–6.9 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 6.8 seconds (10th–90th percentile 5–8 seconds). Typical wind was 22.4 mph (10th–90th percentile 12.8–35.8 mph) and mean water temperature was 9.2°C (10th–90th percentile 8.9–9.6°C). 4 of 3,340 checked values (0.1%) were excluded by quality control. Across 6 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 4 ft and mean wave period was below the same-month mean of 7 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

3ft
Mean: 3.4 ft
P10–P90: 1 — 6.9 ft
Recorded extremes

0 — 12.8 ft

Available for 666 of 668 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

6.8secs
P10–P90: 5 — 8secs
Recorded extremes

4 — 11secs

Available for 666 of 668 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

9.2°C
P10–P90: 8.9 — 9.6°C
Recorded extremes

8.7 — 9.7°C

Typical Wind

Variable, 22.4mph
Mean: 23.4 mph
P10–P90: 12.8 — 35.8 mph
Recorded extremes

4.7 — 50.8 mph

Circular concentration: 26%

Compared With Previous Februarys

Historical baseline from 3,364 observations across 6 years.

Wave Height
3.4ft
0.6ft below mean
Historical mean 4ft
Wave Period
6.8s
0.2s below mean
Historical mean 7s
Water Temperature
9.2°C
0.1°C above mean
Historical mean 9.1°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 Feb 2017Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)3464333322224211112236943587
Mean observed period(s)7Reported6Reported8Reported8Reported7Reported8Reported7Reported9Reported7Reported6Reported5Reported5Reported6Reported5Reported5Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported9Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported7Reported6Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)----------------------------
Mean wind directionSconcentration 96%SSEconcentration 99%Sconcentration 81%SSWconcentration 35%NEconcentration 56%Variableconcentration 25%Wconcentration 61%NNEconcentration 96%ENEconcentration 89%NEconcentration 88%NNEconcentration 98%Econcentration 92%Econcentration 99%ESEconcentration 93%Sconcentration 81%WSWconcentration 94%WSWconcentration 72%SSEconcentration 91%WSWconcentration 91%Wconcentration 98%Wconcentration 98%WSWconcentration 99%WSWconcentration 89%WNWconcentration 92%SSWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 95%WSWconcentration 92%
Mean wind speed (mph)22313016231717172120222634191712131117232836412325273433
Mean water temperature(°C)9.69.69.69.49.49.49.59.39.19.08.88.88.98.99.09.09.19.09.19.29.29.39.39.29.29.49.49.3

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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