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Perranporth wave buoy daily means for Dec 2023

Daily means from the Perranporth wave buoy for Dec 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

1,422 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 8.1 ft (10th–90th percentile 3.4–12.5 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 11.1 seconds (10th–90th percentile 7–14.8 seconds). Mean water temperature was 11.5°C (10th–90th percentile 11.2–11.7°C). 23 of 5,688 checked values (0.4%) were excluded by quality control. Across 13 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 7.2 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 10.5 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

8.1ft
Mean: 8.3 ft
P10–P90: 3.4 — 12.5 ft
Recorded extremes

1 — 20.6 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

11.1secs
P10–P90: 7 — 14.8secs
Recorded extremes

3.5 — 22.2secs

Available for 716 of 723 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

W

Circular concentration: 97%

Mean Water Temperature

11.5°C
P10–P90: 11.2 — 11.7°C
Recorded extremes

10.9 — 11.8°C

Compared With Previous Decembers

Historical baseline from 9,460 observations across 13 years.

Wave Height
8.3ft
1.1ft above mean
Historical mean 7.2ft
Wave Period
11.1s
0.6s above mean
Historical mean 10.5s
Water Temperature
11.5°C
0.5°C above mean
Historical mean 11°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 Dec 2023Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)213985812121111995767779121191097713108QC rejected
Mean maximum wave height (ft)32514127121919161713147119111010141816141613111119151326
Mean peak period (s)996981313151113151410101513121211910981012131114121214
Mean zero-crossing period (s)4546577877876576765666666767778
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean reported period (s)4546577877876576765666666767678
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionWNWconcentration 93%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 100%NWconcentration 92%NWconcentration 97%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 100%Wconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 98%Wconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 95%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 96%Wconcentration 97%WNWconcentration 99%Wconcentration 97%WNWconcentration 97%WNWconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 98%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 99%
Mean directional spread (°)37.336.829.632.838.031.925.422.823.828.526.031.031.131.534.332.830.032.236.226.821.624.028.526.629.230.429.925.028.129.921.9
Mean reported wave directionWNWconcentration 94%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 100%NWconcentration 92%NWconcentration 97%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%WNWconcentration 100%Wconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 98%Wconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 95%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 96%Wconcentration 95%WNWconcentration 99%Wconcentration 97%WNWconcentration 97%WNWconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 95%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 100%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 98%Wconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 99%Wconcentration 99%WNWconcentration 99%
Mean water temperature(°C)11.711.511.611.411.311.111.111.111.211.311.511.611.511.411.411.611.611.611.611.411.611.611.611.711.811.711.811.711.711.611.4

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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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