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K5 wave buoy daily means for Jan 2012

Daily means from the K5 wave buoy for Jan 2012, 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

733 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 16.1 ft (10th–90th percentile 9.2–25.3 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 8.2 seconds (10th–90th percentile 7–10 seconds). Typical wind was 26.5 mph (10th–90th percentile 13.8–35.7 mph) and mean water temperature was 10°C (10th–90th percentile 9.7–10.4°C). 37 of 3,635 checked values (1%) were excluded by quality control. Across 1 comparable year, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 13.5 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 7.9 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

16.1ft
Mean: 16.9 ft
P10–P90: 9.2 — 25.3 ft
Recorded extremes

6.6 — 38.1 ft

Available for 720 of 733 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

8.2secs
P10–P90: 7 — 10secs
Recorded extremes

6 — 12secs

Available for 731 of 733 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

10°C
P10–P90: 9.7 — 10.4°C
Recorded extremes

9.5 — 10.5°C

Available for 717 of 733 hourly samples

Typical Wind

WSW, 26.5mph
Mean: 25.4 mph
P10–P90: 13.8 — 35.7 mph
Recorded extremes

3.5 — 50.6 mph

Circular concentration: 64%

Available for 711 of 733 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Januarys

Historical baseline from 742 observations across 1 year.

Wave Height
16.9ft
3.4ft above mean
Historical mean 13.5ft
Wave Period
8.2s
0.3s above mean
Historical mean 7.9s
Water Temperature
10°C
In line with the historical mean
Historical mean 10°C

Chart showing grouped wave observations for K5. 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 K5 wave buoy

K5 (WMO 64045) is a UK Met Office buoy in the far North Atlantic west of Scotland. It provides observations from a sparsely monitored ocean area upstream of the Hebrides and northern UK waters. The international feed includes marine weather and sea-temperature observations, with wave and wind parameters present only when the relevant sensors are reporting.

Metrics are rows; days run left to right.
K5 wave buoy daily means Jan 2012Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)20251720211625162023211491213131630241926171191013158101513
Mean observed period(s)9Reported10Reported9Reported8Reported9Reported8Reported9Reported8Reported9Reported10Reported9Reported8Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported7Reported8Reported10Reported9Reported9Reported10Reported8Reported9Reported6Reported8Reported9Reported8Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)-------------------------------
Mean wind directionWSWconcentration 97%WSWconcentration 95%WNWconcentration 88%Wconcentration 97%NWconcentration 93%WSWconcentration 85%Wconcentration 98%SWconcentration 90%WSWconcentration 93%Wconcentration 99%WSWconcentration 78%NWconcentration 78%Sconcentration 98%Sconcentration 100%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 97%SSWconcentration 91%Wconcentration 98%Wconcentration 95%Wconcentration 91%Wconcentration 98%WNWconcentration 98%Nconcentration 42%SSWconcentration 69%WNWconcentration 80%SWconcentration 75%WNWconcentration 73%SSWconcentration 96%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 98%Sconcentration 100%
Mean wind speed (mph)30302032222830273027281917212128274034283627142114161617192829
Mean water temperature(°C)10.010.010.09.99.99.99.99.99.99.99.910.310.310.410.210.410.510.310.210.010.010.09.89.79.79.79.79.79.69.79.6

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.

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