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K5 wave buoy daily means for May 2012

Daily means from the K5 wave buoy for May 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

743 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 6.6 ft (10th–90th percentile 4.3–12.8 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 6.3 seconds (10th–90th percentile 5–8 seconds). Typical wind was 15 mph (10th–90th percentile 6.9–23 mph) and mean water temperature was 10°C (10th–90th percentile 9.5–11.1°C). 2 of 3,715 checked values (0.1%) were excluded by quality control. Across 2 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 8.7 ft and mean wave period was below the same-month mean of 6.5 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

6.6ft
Mean: 7.9 ft
P10–P90: 4.3 — 12.8 ft
Recorded extremes

2.6 — 25.3 ft

Available for 741 of 743 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

6.3secs
P10–P90: 5 — 8secs
Recorded extremes

4 — 10secs

Mean Water Temperature

10°C
P10–P90: 9.5 — 11.1°C
Recorded extremes

9.3 — 12.1°C

Typical Wind

NE, 15mph
Mean: 15.4 mph
P10–P90: 6.9 — 23 mph
Recorded extremes

2.3 — 43.7 mph

Circular concentration: 30%

Compared With Previous Mays

Historical baseline from 1,480 observations across 2 years.

Wave Height
7.9ft
0.8ft below mean
Historical mean 8.7ft
Wave Period
6.3s
0.2s below mean
Historical mean 6.5s
Water Temperature
10°C
0.7°C below mean
Historical mean 10.7°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 May 2012Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)55610797766681921171111751088995435556
Mean observed period(s)6Reported7Reported6Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported6Reported6Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported8Reported9Reported9Reported8Reported7Reported6Reported5Reported6Reported6Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported6Reported5Reported6Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported5Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)-------------------------------
Mean wind directionNconcentration 90%Nconcentration 84%NNWconcentration 72%NNEconcentration 97%Nconcentration 71%NNEconcentration 92%NNEconcentration 90%NEconcentration 94%NNEconcentration 97%NNEconcentration 96%WNWconcentration 82%SWconcentration 97%WSWconcentration 88%NWconcentration 85%NNWconcentration 94%ENEconcentration 61%NEconcentration 95%NEconcentration 97%Sconcentration 79%Sconcentration 98%Sconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 96%SSEconcentration 98%Sconcentration 89%ESEconcentration 91%SEconcentration 75%ENEconcentration 71%Econcentration 98%Econcentration 100%Econcentration 99%ENEconcentration 96%
Mean wind speed (mph)7716221211101810171724352011151914152015191714910718171516
Mean water temperature(°C)9.79.89.89.710.010.110.110.010.110.09.89.69.69.59.59.69.59.59.49.59.79.89.910.010.510.611.111.111.211.411.4

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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