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Faro wave buoy observations on Tue, Aug 18, 2026

Hourly readings from the Faro wave buoy for Tue, Aug 18, 2026, including available wave height, period, direction, wind and sea temperature data.

Last observation shown

Oldest observation available

Daily means for

Latest

Period Summary

Programmatically generated summary. Hog Says

26 wave-buoy observations were recorded during the day. Typical wave height was 1 ft (10th–90th percentile 1–1.4 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 12.8 seconds (10th–90th percentile 4.3–15.4 seconds). All 78 checked values passed quality control.

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

Line chart showing wave height, wave period and sea temperature for Faro. Use the detailed observations table below for the same data in text form.

About Faro wave buoy

Faro is an Instituto Hidrográfico Datawell Waverider moored in about 90 metres of water south of the Algarve. Directional monitoring here began in 1986, making it a long-running MONIZEE reference for the open-ocean conditions entering the Gulf of Cádiz and approaching southern Portugal.

Its current data source reports wave height, wave period, wave direction and directional spread.

Metrics are rows; hours run left to right. Times use your device time zone.
Faro wave buoy hourly observations Tue, Aug 18, 2026Last observation shown
Metric
Significant wave height (ft)-----------------------11111111111111111111111212
Maximum wave height (ft)-----------------------11112222122121122121222222
Peak period (s)-----------------------151715151515151515151515141415141514141515---33
Mean period Tm02 (s)-----------------------44444444433333333333333333
Zero-crossing period (s)-----------------------55454555444443344443333333
Peak wave direction-----------------------SSWSSWSWSWSSWSWSSWSSWSSWSSWSWSWSWSWSWSSWSWSWSSWWSWSWWWWWW
Directional spread (°)-----------------------25.035.032.038.038.038.028.033.023.035.034.045.036.054.042.036.029.040.038.050.050.030.025.026.031.025.0

Swipe sideways to see more hours.

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 Instituto Hidrográfico MONIZEE network.

Learn how SurfHog combines, checks and summarizes observations in the data and methodology notes.

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