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Happisburgh wave buoy daily means for Sep 2019

Daily means from the Happisburgh wave buoy for Sep 2019, 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

1,408 wave-buoy observations covered all 30 days. Typical wave height was 1.7 ft (10th–90th percentile 1–4 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 6.4 seconds (10th–90th percentile 4.3–8.8 seconds). Mean water temperature was 16.6°C (10th–90th percentile 16–18°C). 7 of 5,604 checked values (0.1%) were excluded by quality control. Across 6 comparable years, mean wave height was the same as the same-month mean of 2.1 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 6.2 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

1.7ft
Mean: 2.1 ft
P10–P90: 1 — 4 ft
Recorded extremes

0.5 — 7.5 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

6.4secs
P10–P90: 4.3 — 8.8secs
Recorded extremes

2.6 — 15.4secs

Available for 718 of 720 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

NE

Circular concentration: 82%

Mean Water Temperature

16.6°C
P10–P90: 16 — 18°C
Recorded extremes

15.7 — 19.2°C

Compared With Previous Septembers

Historical baseline from 7,719 observations across 6 years.

Wave Height
2.1ft
0ft above mean
Historical mean 2.067ft
Wave Period
6.4s
0.2s above mean
Historical mean 6.2s
Water Temperature
16.6°C
0.3°C above mean
Historical mean 16.3°C

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Happisburgh. 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 Happisburgh wave buoy

Happisburgh is a Channel Coastal Observatory wave station off the northeast Norfolk coast. It supplies a nearshore North Sea record for one of England's most rapidly changing soft-cliff frontages, where communities, beaches and coastal defences are exposed to frequent erosion.

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

Metrics are rows; days run left to right.
Happisburgh wave buoy daily means Sep 2019Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)22125244211121124322321211112QC rejected
Mean peak period (s)578599677555568878876556666567
Mean zero-crossing period (s)444455455444443455544444444445
Mean peak wave directionNconcentration 98%NNEconcentration 88%NNEconcentration 88%NNEconcentration 66%NNEconcentration 93%NNEconcentration 94%Nconcentration 91%NNEconcentration 99%NNEconcentration 99%NNEconcentration 92%NEconcentration 79%NNEconcentration 82%Nconcentration 88%NNEconcentration 94%NNEconcentration 90%NNEconcentration 100%NNEconcentration 98%NNEconcentration 99%NNEconcentration 98%NEconcentration 85%Econcentration 99%ENEconcentration 99%ENEconcentration 96%Econcentration 93%Econcentration 96%ENEconcentration 94%ENEconcentration 97%NNEconcentration 84%ENEconcentration 82%NNEconcentration 95%
Mean directional spread (°)28.032.442.436.922.528.420.022.425.427.643.341.829.332.436.625.921.924.524.625.319.523.633.825.531.232.534.740.429.421.8
Mean water temperature(°C)18.918.518.218.017.517.116.716.416.116.116.116.216.416.416.516.516.416.116.015.915.916.116.116.216.316.316.216.016.015.8

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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 Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme.

Learn how SurfHog combines, checks and summarizes observations in the data and methodology notes.

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