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K5 wave buoy daily means for Sep 2018

Daily means from the K5 wave buoy for Sep 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

714 wave-buoy observations covered all 30 days. Typical wave height was 10.2 ft (10th–90th percentile 6.2–15.1 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 7 seconds (10th–90th percentile 6–8 seconds). Typical wind was 18.3 mph (10th–90th percentile 10.3–27.7 mph) and mean water temperature was 12.3°C (10th–90th percentile 11.6–12.9°C). 13 of 3,570 checked values (0.4%) were excluded by quality control. Across 8 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 10.3 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 6.8 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

10.2ft
Mean: 10.4 ft
P10–P90: 6.2 — 15.1 ft
Recorded extremes

3.3 — 21.7 ft

Available for 707 of 714 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

7secs
P10–P90: 6 — 8secs
Recorded extremes

5 — 11secs

Available for 710 of 714 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

12.3°C
P10–P90: 11.6 — 12.9°C
Recorded extremes

11.2 — 13.2°C

Typical Wind

WSW, 18.3mph
Mean: 18.9 mph
P10–P90: 10.3 — 27.7 mph
Recorded extremes

2.2 — 33.3 mph

Circular concentration: 59%

Available for 712 of 714 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Septembers

Historical baseline from 5,616 observations across 8 years.

Wave Height
10.4ft
0.1ft above mean
Historical mean 10.3ft
Wave Period
7s
0.2s above mean
Historical mean 6.8s
Water Temperature
12.3°C
0.4°C below mean
Historical mean 12.7°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 Sep 2018Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)12119776QC rejected7811913128710127111311121110141411101918
Mean observed period(s)8Reported7Reported7Reported6Reported6Reported6Reported6Reported6Reported7Reported8Reported6Reported7Reported7Reported6Reported6Reported6Reported8Reported7Reported7Reported8Reported7Reported8Reported8Reported7Reported8Reported8Reported7Reported6Reported8Reported9Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)------------------------------
Mean wind directionSWconcentration 83%SWconcentration 75%SWconcentration 88%SSWconcentration 98%Wconcentration 90%NNWconcentration 88%ESEconcentration 84%Variableconcentration 23%SSWconcentration 79%Wconcentration 98%WSWconcentration 89%WSWconcentration 93%Wconcentration 98%Wconcentration 98%SSWconcentration 86%SWconcentration 84%Wconcentration 43%NEconcentration 43%WSWconcentration 70%NNWconcentration 69%NWconcentration 75%WNWconcentration 98%WNWconcentration 95%WSWconcentration 95%SWconcentration 90%WSWconcentration 96%WNWconcentration 98%WSWconcentration 97%WSWconcentration 95%NWconcentration 93%
Mean wind speed (mph)14211618151491116162125241819221512221820192021232021243125
Mean water temperature(°C)12.912.912.812.812.812.612.812.912.812.912.812.712.512.412.312.212.112.112.012.212.312.112.011.911.911.811.711.511.511.4

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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