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K5 wave buoy daily means for Feb 2020

Daily means from the K5 wave buoy for Feb 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

693 wave-buoy observations covered all 29 days. Typical wave height was 17.7 ft (10th–90th percentile 10.8–30.8 ft), while mean reported wave period; measurement type unavailable was 9 seconds (10th–90th percentile 7–11 seconds). Typical wind was 27.7 mph (10th–90th percentile 9.2–40.3 mph) and mean water temperature was 9.3°C (10th–90th percentile 9.1–9.5°C). 11 of 3,465 checked values (0.3%) were excluded by quality control. Across 9 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 16 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 8.3 seconds.

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

Typical Wave Height

17.7ft
Mean: 19.8 ft
P10–P90: 10.8 — 30.8 ft
Recorded extremes

8.5 — 43.3 ft

Available for 684 of 693 hourly samples

Mean Wave Period

9secs
P10–P90: 7 — 11secs
Recorded extremes

6 — 13secs

Available for 692 of 693 hourly samples

Mean Water Temperature

9.3°C
P10–P90: 9.1 — 9.5°C
Recorded extremes

9 — 9.6°C

Typical Wind

WSW, 27.7mph
Mean: 26.8 mph
P10–P90: 9.2 — 40.3 mph
Recorded extremes

2.2 — 53 mph

Circular concentration: 49%

Available for 692 of 693 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Februarys

Historical baseline from 5,963 observations across 9 years.

Wave Height
19.8ft
3.8ft above mean
Historical mean 16ft
Wave Period
9s
0.7s above mean
Historical mean 8.3s
Water Temperature
9.3°C
0.1°C below mean
Historical mean 9.4°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 Feb 2020Last observation shown
Metric
Mean wave height (ft)131024161417181818282921QC rejected30332725221727273321121016151113
Mean observed period(s)9Reported8Reported9Reported8Reported8Reported9Reported8Reported9Reported10Reported11Reported11Reported9Reported9Reported10Reported11Reported10Reported10Reported9Reported8Reported10Reported10Reported11Reported9Reported8Reported8Reported9Reported9Reported8Reported8Reported
Mean wave power(kW/m)-----------------------------
Mean wind directionNNWconcentration 68%ESEconcentration 80%NWconcentration 56%NNWconcentration 66%SWconcentration 97%SSWconcentration 98%Sconcentration 89%SWconcentration 93%Wconcentration 40%Wconcentration 96%Wconcentration 98%WNWconcentration 97%NWconcentration 45%SSWconcentration 73%Sconcentration 93%SWconcentration 89%Wconcentration 95%Wconcentration 98%SWconcentration 74%WSWconcentration 97%WSWconcentration 96%Wconcentration 98%WNWconcentration 94%SSEconcentration 41%WNWconcentration 82%WNWconcentration 96%Wconcentration 81%SEconcentration 67%ESEconcentration 81%
Mean wind speed (mph)14201972526312721363728QC rejected40373436353037404326151429231720
Mean water temperature(°C)9.49.49.49.49.39.49.49.39.29.29.19.19.29.29.29.29.29.39.39.19.39.59.59.49.29.29.29.29.2

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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