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K5 wave buoy daily means for Dec 2018

Daily means from the K5 wave buoy for Dec 2018, 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

732 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 12.8 ft (10th–90th percentile 7.5–21.2 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 8.1 seconds (10th–90th percentile 6–10 seconds). Typical wind was 18.3 mph (10th–90th percentile 8.1–31.1 mph) and mean water temperature was 10°C (10th–90th percentile 9.9–10.1°C). 10 of 3,660 checked values (0.3%) were excluded by quality control. Across 8 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 16.5 ft and mean wave period was below the same-month mean of 8.2 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

12.8ft
Mean: 13.6 ft
P10–P90: 7.5 — 21.2 ft
Recorded extremes

4.6 — 33.8 ft

Available for 725 of 732 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

8.1secs
P10–P90: 6 — 10secs
Recorded extremes

5 — 14secs

Available for 729 of 732 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

10°C
P10–P90: 9.9 — 10.1°C
Recorded extremes

9.7 — 10.5°C

Typical Wind

SSW, 18.3mph
Mean: 19.4 mph
P10–P90: 8.1 — 31.1 mph
Recorded extremes

2.2 — 41.4 mph

Circular concentration: 34%

Compared With Previous Decembers

Historical baseline from 5,895 observations across 8 years.

Wave Height
13.6ft
2.9ft below mean
Historical mean 16.5ft
Wave Period
8.1s
0.1s below mean
Historical mean 8.2s
Water Temperature
10°C
0.1°C above mean
Historical mean 9.9°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 Dec 2018Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)151412111013171717QC rejected1617252124151622161076968109109QC rejectedQC rejected
Mean observed period(s)8Reported9Reported9Reported8Reported8Reported7Reported9Reported9Reported10Reported8Reported8Reported9Reported10Reported9Reported11Reported9Reported8Reported10Reported9Reported8Reported7Reported7Reported9Reported7Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)-------------------------------
Mean wind directionWSWconcentration 97%WNWconcentration 51%NNEconcentration 59%Wconcentration 80%SEconcentration 82%SSWconcentration 71%Nconcentration 60%Nconcentration 66%Nconcentration 82%SSEconcentration 92%Sconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 82%SSEconcentration 95%SSEconcentration 97%SSEconcentration 41%SSWconcentration 85%SSEconcentration 91%Sconcentration 97%Sconcentration 94%ESEconcentration 77%NNEconcentration 78%NWconcentration 85%NEconcentration 52%SSWconcentration 87%Sconcentration 92%SWconcentration 95%SWconcentration 89%SWconcentration 78%Wconcentration 56%SWconcentration 98%WSWconcentration 86%
Mean wind speed (mph)23191116172625151019232134301916292522128761320202119132832
Mean water temperature(°C)10.010.110.110.010.110.110.010.110.110.110.010.110.010.010.110.110.010.010.010.09.99.910.09.99.99.910.010.010.010.09.8

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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.

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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