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Greenwich wave buoy daily means for Oct 2018

Daily means from the Greenwich wave buoy for Oct 2018, 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

729 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1.6 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.7–4.6 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 6.1 seconds (10th–90th percentile 5–8 seconds). Typical wind was 18.3 mph (10th–90th percentile 8.1–31.1 mph) and mean water temperature was 16.5°C (10th–90th percentile 15.2–17°C). All 3,645 checked values passed quality control. Across 8 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 2.7 ft and mean wave period was the same as 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: 2.2 ft
P10–P90: 0.7 — 4.6 ft
Recorded extremes

0.3 — 8.5 ft

Mean Wave Period

6.1secs
P10–P90: 5 — 8secs
Recorded extremes

3 — 10secs

Mean Water Temperature

16.5°C
P10–P90: 15.2 — 17°C
Recorded extremes

14.9 — 17.7°C

Typical Wind

Variable, 18.3mph
Mean: 19.3 mph
P10–P90: 8.1 — 31.1 mph
Recorded extremes

2.2 — 46.1 mph

Circular concentration: 21%

Compared With Previous Octobers

Historical baseline from 5,937 observations across 8 years.

Wave Height
2.2ft
0.5ft below mean
Historical mean 2.7ft
Wave Period
6.1s
In line with the historical mean
Historical mean 6.1s
Water Temperature
16.5°C
0.4°C above 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 2018Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)242112QC rejected111355322222112221235432
Mean observed period(s)5Reported6Reported6Reported5Reported5Reported6Reported6Reported5Reported7Reported7Reported5Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported9Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported8Reported6Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported6Reported6Reported5Reported6Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)-------------------------------
Mean wind directionNNWconcentration 89%Wconcentration 98%WNWconcentration 93%SSWconcentration 44%Sconcentration 80%NEconcentration 73%Nconcentration 92%Wconcentration 89%SSEconcentration 70%Econcentration 90%Sconcentration 93%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 98%Variableconcentration 24%Variableconcentration 28%Sconcentration 59%Wconcentration 35%NNEconcentration 98%NNEconcentration 98%NNEconcentration 84%Wconcentration 46%NNEconcentration 96%WNWconcentration 96%NWconcentration 91%NWconcentration 83%NWconcentration 90%Nconcentration 97%NNEconcentration 93%NNEconcentration 95%NWconcentration 86%SSEconcentration 73%
Mean wind speed (mph)232817101019251112192429231614161124158921221613242633302621
Mean water temperature(°C)16.816.917.117.117.216.916.516.716.816.916.916.816.916.916.816.816.916.716.616.716.816.416.316.516.116.015.515.215.115.015.1

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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