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Lowestoft wave buoy daily means for May 2020

Daily means from the Lowestoft wave buoy for May 2020, 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

1,483 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1.7 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.9–3.8 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 5.6 seconds (10th–90th percentile 3.8–8.3 seconds). Mean water temperature was 11.8°C (10th–90th percentile 10.5–13.5°C). 9 of 5,893 checked values (0.2%) were excluded by quality control. Across 4 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 2.2 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 5.2 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

1.7ft
Mean: 2.1 ft
P10–P90: 0.9 — 3.8 ft
Recorded extremes

0.5 — 9.4 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

5.6secs
P10–P90: 3.8 — 8.3secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 13.3secs

Available for 741 of 743 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

E

Circular concentration: 69%

Mean Water Temperature

11.8°C
P10–P90: 10.5 — 13.5°C
Recorded extremes

10.1 — 14.7°C

Compared With Previous Mays

Historical baseline from 5,801 observations across 4 years.

Wave Height
2.1ft
0.1ft below mean
Historical mean 2.165ft
Wave Period
5.6s
0.4s above mean
Historical mean 5.2s
Water Temperature
11.8°C
0.4°C above mean
Historical mean 11.4°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 May 2020Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)2112QC rejected31114734321221112321112232
Mean maximum wave height (ft)42236421171146532222223542213354
Mean peak period (s)65545559117876557776434655644455
Mean zero-crossing period (s)4333444444544444444333444433343
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSSEconcentration 91%Econcentration 54%ENEconcentration 82%ENEconcentration 97%ENEconcentration 99%Econcentration 95%Econcentration 91%NEconcentration 90%NEconcentration 94%NEconcentration 90%NEconcentration 100%NEconcentration 99%NEconcentration 95%NEconcentration 99%Econcentration 45%NEconcentration 91%ENEconcentration 56%SEconcentration 51%ESEconcentration 71%SEconcentration 76%SEconcentration 92%SSEconcentration 86%Sconcentration 99%SEconcentration 71%Econcentration 86%ENEconcentration 98%ENEconcentration 92%Econcentration 98%Econcentration 93%ENEconcentration 98%ENEconcentration 98%
Mean directional spread (°)33.048.347.239.334.141.444.348.549.934.327.937.832.835.538.044.738.340.844.641.844.330.728.946.050.743.743.439.137.131.938.5
Mean water temperature(°C)10.410.410.510.610.610.811.011.211.411.510.910.810.810.911.011.111.211.511.712.012.312.512.712.712.913.113.313.513.613.914.1

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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