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Perranporth wave buoy daily means for May 2016

Daily means from the Perranporth wave buoy for May 2016, 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

744 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 2.6 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.9–6.3 ft), while the reported wave period averaged 9.7 seconds (10th–90th percentile 5–13 seconds). Mean water temperature was 12.3°C (10th–90th percentile 11.1–13.4°C). 3 of 2,976 checked values (0.1%) were excluded by quality control. Across 5 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 4.3 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 9.1 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

2.6ft
Mean: 3.2 ft
P10–P90: 0.9 — 6.3 ft
Recorded extremes

0.6 — 9 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

9.7secs
P10–P90: 5 — 13secs
Recorded extremes

2 — 20secs

Available for 741 of 744 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

WNW

Circular concentration: 93%

Mean Water Temperature

12.3°C
P10–P90: 11.1 — 13.4°C
Recorded extremes

10.8 — 14.8°C

Compared With Previous Mays

Historical baseline from 3,413 observations across 5 years.

Wave Height
3.2ft
1.1ft below mean
Historical mean 4.3ft
Wave Period
9.7s
0.6s above mean
Historical mean 9.1s
Water Temperature
12.3°C
0.2°C above mean
Historical mean 12.1°C

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Perranporth. 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 Perranporth wave buoy

Perranporth is a National Network Datawell Directional WaveRider in about 14 metres of water off Cornwall's exposed north coast. First deployed on 18 December 2006, it records Atlantic swell approaching Perranporth and neighbouring beaches; a separate shore station supplies the local weather context.

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.
Perranporth wave buoy daily means May 2016Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)3674753111112211366554533211124
Mean maximum wave height (ft)-------------------------------
Mean peak period (s)-------------------------------
Mean zero-crossing period (s)-------------------------------
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean reported period (s)58121213121081098115101011111011109111013141299855
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave direction-------------------------------
Mean directional spread (°)-------------------------------
Mean reported wave directionWconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 99%Wconcentration 97%WNWconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 60%Wconcentration 95%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 96%NWconcentration 97%WNWconcentration 90%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 98%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 90%NNWconcentration 99%NNWconcentration 99%
Mean water temperature(°C)10.910.911.211.211.411.411.411.411.511.811.912.012.212.112.613.313.112.812.712.512.412.612.912.612.512.613.013.313.813.713.3

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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