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Lowestoft wave buoy daily means for Aug 2018

Daily means from the Lowestoft wave buoy for Aug 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

1,440 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1.6 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.9–2.8 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 4.7 seconds (10th–90th percentile 3.1–6.1 seconds). Mean water temperature was 19.7°C (10th–90th percentile 18.8–20.4°C). 1 of 5,719 checked values (0%) were excluded by quality control. Across 2 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 2 ft and mean wave period was below the same-month mean of 5.2 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

1.6ft
Mean: 1.8 ft
P10–P90: 0.9 — 2.8 ft
Recorded extremes

0.5 — 8.6 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

4.7secs
P10–P90: 3.1 — 6.1secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 9.1secs

Observed Wave Direction

SE

Circular concentration: 57%

Mean Water Temperature

19.7°C
P10–P90: 18.8 — 20.4°C
Recorded extremes

18.3 — 21°C

Compared With Previous Augusts

Historical baseline from 2,976 observations across 2 years.

Wave Height
1.8ft
0.2ft below mean
Historical mean 2.034ft
Wave Period
4.7s
0.5s below mean
Historical mean 5.2s
Water Temperature
19.7°C
1°C above mean
Historical mean 18.7°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 Aug 2018Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)1112111223231223123122122QC rejected21122
Mean maximum wave height (ft)-------------------------------
Mean peak period (s)4344433456655655445444456665456
Mean zero-crossing period (s)3333333344443444334433334544344
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSconcentration 98%Sconcentration 95%SEconcentration 74%NNEconcentration 77%ENEconcentration 75%SSEconcentration 89%Sconcentration 95%ESEconcentration 47%ENEconcentration 42%SEconcentration 57%SEconcentration 66%SSEconcentration 98%Econcentration 79%ENEconcentration 80%SEconcentration 67%SSEconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 83%Sconcentration 98%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 63%SEconcentration 56%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 97%Econcentration 78%ENEconcentration 70%SSEconcentration 54%SSEconcentration 95%Econcentration 72%Econcentration 60%ENEconcentration 97%ENEconcentration 98%
Mean directional spread (°)36.436.549.731.941.539.339.235.833.632.839.030.452.147.136.630.543.831.424.939.837.029.933.756.350.629.038.449.340.440.436.4
Mean water temperature(°C)20.120.120.320.220.320.320.520.520.320.019.819.819.819.719.819.819.619.619.519.619.719.919.919.719.319.219.018.918.818.718.6

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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