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Lowestoft wave buoy daily means for Dec 2018

Daily means from the Lowestoft 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

1,444 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 2.7 ft (10th–90th percentile 1–5.5 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 6.2 seconds (10th–90th percentile 4.3–8.5 seconds). Mean water temperature was 8.2°C (10th–90th percentile 7.3–9.3°C). 4 of 5,752 checked values (0.1%) were excluded by quality control. Across 2 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 2.6 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 5.8 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

2.7ft
Mean: 3 ft
P10–P90: 1 — 5.5 ft
Recorded extremes

0.5 — 12.5 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

6.2secs
P10–P90: 4.3 — 8.5secs
Recorded extremes

2.2 — 16.7secs

Available for 740 of 742 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

SE

Circular concentration: 57%

Mean Water Temperature

8.2°C
P10–P90: 7.3 — 9.3°C
Recorded extremes

7 — 9.6°C

Compared With Previous Decembers

Historical baseline from 2,974 observations across 2 years.

Wave Height
3ft
0.4ft above mean
Historical mean 2.559ft
Wave Period
6.2s
0.4s above mean
Historical mean 5.8s
Water Temperature
8.2°C
1.1°C above mean
Historical mean 7.1°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 Dec 2018Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)4332424434337484274332221111221
Mean maximum wave height (ft)-------------------------------
Mean peak period (s)655765667975666656666665451011576
Mean zero-crossing period (s)4445444445545454454444444344354
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 67%NEconcentration 93%SEconcentration 70%SSEconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 98%Econcentration 43%NEconcentration 99%NEconcentration 99%ESEconcentration 72%Econcentration 95%ENEconcentration 94%SEconcentration 95%SSEconcentration 93%SSEconcentration 96%SSEconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 84%Econcentration 73%ENEconcentration 96%SEconcentration 55%SEconcentration 61%NEconcentration 66%NEconcentration 65%SEconcentration 69%NEconcentration 98%ENEconcentration 93%
Mean directional spread (°)23.023.729.243.130.431.125.630.746.937.233.336.225.733.426.726.633.419.122.723.124.635.344.439.835.045.954.460.544.141.745.7
Mean water temperature(°C)9.39.49.49.29.29.29.39.29.18.88.68.58.38.07.98.07.98.08.07.97.87.77.67.67.47.47.37.27.37.37.3

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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