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Lowestoft wave buoy daily means for Oct 2017

Daily means from the Lowestoft wave buoy for Oct 2017, 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

1,256 wave-buoy observations covered 29 of 31 days (94%). Typical wave height was 2.3 ft (10th–90th percentile 1.4–4.2 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 5.6 seconds (10th–90th percentile 4–7.5 seconds). Mean water temperature was 14.6°C (10th–90th percentile 13.8–15.8°C). 1 of 5,015 checked values (0%) were excluded by quality control. Across 1 comparable year, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 3.3 ft and mean wave period was below the same-month mean of 6.2 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

2.3ft
Mean: 2.6 ft
P10–P90: 1.4 — 4.2 ft
Recorded extremes

0.7 — 7.3 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

5.6secs
P10–P90: 4 — 7.5secs
Recorded extremes

1.8 — 13.3secs

Observed Wave Direction

SE

Circular concentration: 55%

Mean Water Temperature

14.6°C
P10–P90: 13.8 — 15.8°C
Recorded extremes

13.1 — 16.5°C

Compared With Previous Octobers

Historical baseline from 1,490 observations across 1 year.

Wave Height
2.6ft
0.7ft below mean
Historical mean 3.281ft
Wave Period
5.6s
0.6s below mean
Historical mean 6.2s
Water Temperature
14.6°C
In line with the historical mean
Historical mean 14.6°C

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Lowestoft. 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 Lowestoft wave buoy

Lowestoft is a Channel Coastal Observatory wave station off the Suffolk coast at Britain's most easterly town. Its North Sea observations provide local context for the harbour approaches, developed seafront and low-lying coastline around Lowestoft and northern Suffolk.

Its current data source reports wave height, wave period, wave direction, directional spread, wave power and sea temperature.

Metrics are rows; days run left to right.
Lowestoft wave buoy daily means Oct 2017Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)53223332224332233232-2233123QC rejectedQC rejected-
Mean maximum wave height (ft)-------------------------------
Mean peak period (s)66757966656555445456-666556676-
Mean zero-crossing period (s)44444544434444344344-444434355-
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSconcentration 100%Sconcentration 97%ENEconcentration 77%SSEconcentration 59%Econcentration 56%NEconcentration 99%SEconcentration 69%ENEconcentration 93%ENEconcentration 79%SSEconcentration 97%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 97%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 97%Sconcentration 98%Econcentration 91%ESEconcentration 68%SEconcentration 100%-SEconcentration 100%ESEconcentration 74%SSEconcentration 76%SSEconcentration 97%ESEconcentration 75%NEconcentration 93%NNEconcentration 52%NNEconcentration 81%NEconcentration 100%-
Mean directional spread (°)18.334.048.640.140.734.836.243.842.234.921.441.525.027.728.928.827.344.334.065.5-66.046.330.331.049.230.036.326.624.0-
Mean water temperature(°C)16.016.115.715.515.314.914.814.714.614.514.514.514.514.514.514.614.714.514.513.9-14.014.214.214.114.013.813.613.313.2-

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.

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 Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme.

Learn how SurfHog combines, checks and summarizes observations in the data and methodology notes.

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