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Hornsea wave buoy daily means for Aug 2021

Daily means from the Hornsea wave buoy for Aug 2021, 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

1,146 wave-buoy observations covered 25 of 31 days (81%). Typical wave height was 2.2 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.9–4.5 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 6.7 seconds (10th–90th percentile 2.8–10 seconds). Mean water temperature was 15.1°C (10th–90th percentile 14.7–15.7°C). All 4,582 checked values passed quality control. Across 11 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 1.9 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 5.9 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

2.2ft
Mean: 2.6 ft
P10–P90: 0.9 — 4.5 ft
Recorded extremes

0.5 — 7 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

6.7secs
P10–P90: 2.8 — 10secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 11.8secs

Observed Wave Direction

NE

Circular concentration: 72%

Mean Water Temperature

15.1°C
P10–P90: 14.7 — 15.7°C
Recorded extremes

14.5 — 16.2°C

Compared With Previous Augusts

Historical baseline from 16,187 observations across 11 years.

Wave Height
2.6ft
0.7ft above mean
Historical mean 1.936ft
Wave Period
6.7s
0.8s above mean
Historical mean 5.9s
Water Temperature
15.1°C
In line with the historical mean
Historical mean 15.1°C

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Hornsea. 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 Hornsea wave buoy

Hornsea is a Channel Coastal Observatory wave station off the rapidly eroding Holderness coast of East Yorkshire. Its North Sea record provides local wave context for Hornsea's defended frontage and the adjacent soft-cliff coastline, where storms drive substantial shoreline change.

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

Metrics are rows; days run left to right.
Hornsea wave buoy daily means Aug 2021Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)4532------111113322222222644344
Mean maximum wave height (ft)6742------112115543333433975567
Mean peak period (s)71085------33334697781010655998777
Mean zero-crossing period (s)5653------333334545565444555445
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionNNEconcentration 100%NNEconcentration 100%NNEconcentration 96%ESEconcentration 80%------SEconcentration 93%SSEconcentration 67%SSWconcentration 60%SWconcentration 43%ENEconcentration 47%Nconcentration 86%NNEconcentration 100%NNEconcentration 100%NNEconcentration 100%NNEconcentration 100%NNEconcentration 100%NNEconcentration 100%ENEconcentration 96%ENEconcentration 99%NEconcentration 99%NNEconcentration 100%NNEconcentration 100%NEconcentration 99%NEconcentration 100%NEconcentration 99%NNEconcentration 100%
Mean directional spread (°)13.812.416.621.9------31.132.627.027.434.714.413.115.317.415.312.413.820.728.725.914.813.919.919.717.214.6
Mean water temperature(°C)15.415.515.715.4------15.615.615.515.315.215.115.015.115.115.215.215.115.115.115.014.914.814.814.814.814.7

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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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