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Lowestoft wave buoy daily means for Aug 2023

Daily means from the Lowestoft wave buoy for Aug 2023, 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

1,482 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 2 ft (10th–90th percentile 1–3.5 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 5.5 seconds (10th–90th percentile 3.5–8.3 seconds). Mean water temperature was 18.5°C (10th–90th percentile 17.8–19.1°C). 8 of 5,914 checked values (0.1%) were excluded by quality control. Across 7 comparable years, mean wave height was the same as the same-month mean of 2.1 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 5.1 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

2ft
Mean: 2.1 ft
P10–P90: 1 — 3.5 ft
Recorded extremes

0.6 — 5.3 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

5.5secs
P10–P90: 3.5 — 8.3secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 12.5secs

Available for 742 of 744 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

E

Circular concentration: 48%

Mean Water Temperature

18.5°C
P10–P90: 17.8 — 19.1°C
Recorded extremes

17.4 — 19.4°C

Compared With Previous Augusts

Historical baseline from 10,340 observations across 7 years.

Wave Height
2.1ft
0ft below mean
Historical mean 2.133ft
Wave Period
5.5s
0.4s above mean
Historical mean 5.1s
Water Temperature
18.5°C
0.6°C below mean
Historical mean 19.1°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 Aug 2023Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)2432343332223311432111121211112
Mean maximum wave height (ft)3654464443345422654222132322223
Mean peak period (s)567667891011555546565454443454556
Mean zero-crossing period (s)3444445554344334444333333333434
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSEconcentration 88%SSEconcentration 98%NNEconcentration 89%NEconcentration 99%Econcentration 58%NNEconcentration 90%NEconcentration 99%NEconcentration 94%NEconcentration 82%NEconcentration 93%SSEconcentration 43%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 100%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 95%NEconcentration 86%ENEconcentration 98%NEconcentration 98%SEconcentration 55%SSEconcentration 89%SEconcentration 49%SSEconcentration 97%SSEconcentration 95%ESEconcentration 94%NEconcentration 44%Sconcentration 99%Econcentration 39%NEconcentration 80%ENEconcentration 56%ENEconcentration 51%ENEconcentration 71%
Mean directional spread (°)47.129.239.739.438.935.338.242.242.545.131.225.024.027.137.145.132.136.034.537.536.633.943.136.639.229.343.247.641.944.546.5
Mean water temperature(°C)18.218.318.118.118.117.817.817.717.717.818.018.218.318.418.518.618.618.618.818.919.019.019.119.119.119.019.018.918.818.718.6

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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