Skip to content
Surfhog home
Menu

K4 wave buoy daily means for Mar 2020

Daily means from the K4 wave buoy for Mar 2020, 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

734 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 13.5 ft (10th–90th percentile 7.2–20.5 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 8 seconds (10th–90th percentile 6–10 seconds). Typical wind was 20.8 mph (10th–90th percentile 0–34.4 mph) and mean water temperature was 9.9°C (10th–90th percentile 9.8–10°C). 28 of 3,670 checked values (0.8%) were excluded by quality control. Across 7 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 12.1 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 7.7 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

13.5ft
Mean: 13.8 ft
P10–P90: 7.2 — 20.5 ft
Recorded extremes

4.6 — 32.5 ft

Available for 725 of 734 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

8secs
P10–P90: 6 — 10secs
Recorded extremes

5 — 12secs

Available for 730 of 734 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

9.9°C
P10–P90: 9.8 — 10°C
Recorded extremes

9.6 — 10.2°C

Typical Wind

WNW, 20.8mph
Mean: 20 mph
P10–P90: 0 — 34.4 mph
Recorded extremes

0 — 50.8 mph

Circular concentration: 43%

Available for 719 of 734 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Marchs

Historical baseline from 5,076 observations across 7 years.

Wave Height
13.8ft
1.7ft above mean
Historical mean 12.1ft
Wave Period
8s
0.3s above mean
Historical mean 7.7s
Water Temperature
9.9°C
0.5°C below mean
Historical mean 10.4°C

Chart showing grouped wave observations for K4. 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 K4 wave buoy

K4 (WMO 62105) is a UK Met Office buoy in the North Atlantic northwest of Ireland. Its remote position samples weather and sea conditions moving towards northern UK and Irish waters. The international station feed can include wind, pressure, temperature and wave observations, although the reported parameters vary with sensor availability.

Metrics are rows; days run left to right.
K4 wave buoy daily means Mar 2020Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)22161612121216181816202315131516192012898QC rejectedQC rejected12979766
Mean observed period(s)9Reported8Reported9Reported9Reported9Reported7Reported8Reported9Reported9Reported8Reported9Reported10Reported9Reported8Reported8Reported8Reported9Reported9Reported8Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported9Reported9Reported9Reported9Reported7Reported6Reported6Reported6Reported6Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)-------------------------------
Mean wind directionWconcentration 91%WNWconcentration 88%WNWconcentration 90%Wconcentration 93%SWconcentration 74%WNWconcentration 68%SWconcentration 84%Wconcentration 95%WSWconcentration 74%Wconcentration 83%WSWconcentration 96%WNWconcentration 76%SEconcentration 62%SWconcentration 74%NWconcentration 82%SWconcentration 92%WSWconcentration 98%Wconcentration 94%NNWconcentration 98%NNEconcentration 61%SSEconcentration 93%Sconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 92%SSWconcentration 59%NWconcentration 96%NNEconcentration 95%NNEconcentration 95%Nconcentration 97%Nconcentration 100%Nconcentration 100%Nconcentration 99%
Mean wind speed (mph)35322214162430292928323011262533262519132019252511912--23
Mean water temperature(°C)9.99.910.110.110.19.910.09.99.99.99.99.99.89.89.89.99.89.89.89.89.89.89.99.89.89.99.99.99.89.99.8

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.

The observation data displayed on this page is from the UK Met Office.

› Wave Buoy List