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Lowestoft wave buoy daily means for Jul 2020

Daily means from the Lowestoft wave buoy for Jul 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

1,487 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1.9 ft (10th–90th percentile 1.1–3.4 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 4.9 seconds (10th–90th percentile 3.3–6.3 seconds). Mean water temperature was 17.3°C (10th–90th percentile 16.7–17.9°C). 1 of 5,893 checked values (0%) were excluded by quality control. Across 4 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 1.9 ft and mean wave period was below the same-month mean of 5 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

1.9ft
Mean: 2 ft
P10–P90: 1.1 — 3.4 ft
Recorded extremes

0.6 — 6.2 ft

Available for 742 of 744 hourly samples

Mean Observed Wave Period

4.9secs
P10–P90: 3.3 — 6.3secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 11.8secs

Available for 742 of 744 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

ESE

Circular concentration: 55%

Mean Water Temperature

17.3°C
P10–P90: 16.7 — 17.9°C
Recorded extremes

15.9 — 18.4°C

Available for 742 of 744 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Julys

Historical baseline from 5,878 observations across 4 years.

Wave Height
2ft
0.1ft above mean
Historical mean 1.936ft
Wave Period
4.9s
0.1s below mean
Historical mean 5s
Water Temperature
17.3°C
0.7°C below mean
Historical mean 18°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 2020Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)2234432233222111112222213242222
Mean maximum wave height (ft)3346643345222212223323324363333
Mean peak period (s)5556667566553444434554445556654
Mean zero-crossing period (s)4444444444443333333333334343433
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSSEconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 91%SSEconcentration 86%SSEconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 99%ESEconcentration 66%ENEconcentration 77%Econcentration 81%Econcentration 70%ENEconcentration 99%NEconcentration 97%Econcentration 49%Sconcentration 98%ENEconcentration 40%Econcentration 55%NEconcentration 45%ESEconcentration 55%SSEconcentration 97%ENEconcentration 43%NEconcentration 95%NEconcentration 96%ESEconcentration 49%SSEconcentration 98%SEconcentration 91%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%ESEconcentration 69%ENEconcentration 59%ESEconcentration 69%ESEconcentration 83%
Mean directional spread (°)35.441.538.124.929.350.145.442.544.033.539.936.429.238.443.941.039.837.634.741.942.838.632.140.827.736.325.246.851.544.739.6
Mean water temperature(°C)17.017.016.916.917.117.016.916.816.816.716.716.816.917.017.117.217.417.517.517.517.417.417.517.617.717.817.917.917.817.918.1

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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