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Lowestoft wave buoy daily means for Mar 2018

Daily means from the Lowestoft wave buoy for Mar 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

1,486 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 2.5 ft (10th–90th percentile 1.2–10.2 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 6.3 seconds (10th–90th percentile 4–9.1 seconds). Mean water temperature was 4°C (10th–90th percentile 3.5–4.7°C). All 5,775 checked values passed quality control. Across 1 comparable year, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 2.2 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 5 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

2.5ft
Mean: 4 ft
P10–P90: 1.2 — 10.2 ft
Recorded extremes

0.6 — 15.3 ft

Available for 742 of 743 hourly samples

Mean Observed Wave Period

6.3secs
P10–P90: 4 — 9.1secs
Recorded extremes

1.9 — 15.4secs

Available for 742 of 743 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

E

Circular concentration: 70%

Mean Water Temperature

4°C
P10–P90: 3.5 — 4.7°C
Recorded extremes

3.2 — 5.2°C

Compared With Previous Marchs

Historical baseline from 1,439 observations across 1 year.

Wave Height
4ft
1.8ft above mean
Historical mean 2.165ft
Wave Period
6.3s
1.3s above mean
Historical mean 5s
Water Temperature
4°C
3.1°C below 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 Mar 2018Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)13126422232212337612118422321121234
Mean maximum wave height (ft)-------------------------------
Mean peak period (s)997756765466657810987655451057767
Mean zero-crossing period (s)7755445443444455665554444445545
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionENEconcentration 99%ENEconcentration 99%ENEconcentration 96%ENEconcentration 95%ESEconcentration 71%Econcentration 70%NEconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 80%SEconcentration 95%SSEconcentration 94%ENEconcentration 68%Econcentration 67%NEconcentration 96%ESEconcentration 81%ENEconcentration 94%NEconcentration 99%ENEconcentration 100%ENEconcentration 99%ENEconcentration 99%NEconcentration 98%NEconcentration 95%Econcentration 58%SSEconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 95%Econcentration 83%NEconcentration 59%SSEconcentration 83%ENEconcentration 76%ENEconcentration 76%Econcentration 74%ENEconcentration 89%
Mean directional spread (°)20.220.127.228.534.034.932.928.841.731.533.934.633.035.721.421.418.119.021.731.839.849.524.935.452.850.129.536.032.935.935.9
Mean water temperature(°C)3.73.73.53.43.43.43.43.53.63.73.83.94.04.14.24.34.23.93.73.83.94.14.24.34.44.54.54.64.74.84.9

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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