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Lowestoft wave buoy daily means for Jul 2019

Daily means from the Lowestoft wave buoy for Jul 2019, 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

1,480 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1.8 ft (10th–90th percentile 1.1–3 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 5.2 seconds (10th–90th percentile 3.4–7.1 seconds). Mean water temperature was 17.7°C (10th–90th percentile 16.7–19°C). All 5,870 checked values passed quality control. Across 3 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 1.9 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

1.8ft
Mean: 2 ft
P10–P90: 1.1 — 3 ft
Recorded extremes

0.7 — 6.4 ft

Available for 741 of 742 hourly samples

Mean Observed Wave Period

5.2secs
P10–P90: 3.4 — 7.1secs
Recorded extremes

1.8 — 10.5secs

Available for 741 of 742 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

E

Circular concentration: 53%

Mean Water Temperature

17.7°C
P10–P90: 16.7 — 19°C
Recorded extremes

16.3 — 20.1°C

Available for 741 of 742 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Julys

Historical baseline from 4,409 observations across 3 years.

Wave Height
2ft
0.1ft above mean
Historical mean 1.936ft
Wave Period
5.2s
0.2s above mean
Historical mean 5s
Water Temperature
17.7°C
0.4°C below mean
Historical mean 18.1°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 Jul 2019Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)2122112322112332212222121123244
Mean maximum wave height (ft)2233223432223543323434232245366
Mean peak period (s)5576757765434677545555444467556
Mean zero-crossing period (s)3444434443333445433433333345344
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSEconcentration 87%NEconcentration 90%NEconcentration 100%ENEconcentration 70%NEconcentration 84%ENEconcentration 85%NEconcentration 99%NEconcentration 98%ENEconcentration 93%SEconcentration 62%SSEconcentration 87%NNEconcentration 38%NNEconcentration 99%NEconcentration 100%NEconcentration 100%NEconcentration 99%ESEconcentration 49%SSEconcentration 83%SSEconcentration 95%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 91%Sconcentration 98%ESEconcentration 88%ESEconcentration 89%SEconcentration 86%ESEconcentration 67%NEconcentration 99%NEconcentration 99%SEconcentration 69%SSEconcentration 94%SSEconcentration 99%
Mean directional spread (°)47.247.138.139.637.044.536.635.539.639.637.838.035.732.135.536.935.336.632.228.441.027.945.237.138.736.930.428.341.728.225.0
Mean water temperature(°C)16.516.516.616.716.917.017.017.017.017.117.217.317.417.417.317.417.517.717.717.918.018.118.418.618.919.019.119.018.919.019.1

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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