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Rustington wave buoy monthly means for 2020

Monthly means from the Rustington wave buoy for 2020, including available wave height, period, direction, wind and sea temperature data.

Last observation shown

Data available:  to 

Latest

Period Summary

Programmatically generated summary. Hog Says

16,545 wave-buoy observations covered 348 of 366 days (95%). Typical wave height was 2.4 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.9–6 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 6.5 seconds (10th–90th percentile 3.3–11.1 seconds). Typical wind was 0 mph and mean water temperature was 13.2°C (10th–90th percentile 8.5–18.7°C). 120 of 67,557 checked values (0.2%) were excluded by quality control.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

2.4ft
Mean: 3 ft
P10–P90: 0.9 — 6 ft
Recorded extremes

0.3 — 14.6 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

6.5secs
P10–P90: 3.3 — 11.1secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 22.2secs

Available for 8,275 of 8,286 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

SSW

Circular concentration: 71%

Mean Water Temperature

13.2°C
P10–P90: 8.5 — 18.7°C
Recorded extremes

7.5 — 21.9°C

Available for 8,281 of 8,286 hourly samples

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Rustington. Use the table on this page for a text version of the same measurements. To open daily observations, use a linked month name in the table.

About Rustington wave buoy

Rustington is a National Network Datawell Directional WaveRider in about 9.9 metres of water off West Sussex. First deployed on 15 July 2003, it provides a long nearshore record for the low-lying frontage between Littlehampton and Worthing, where beaches form an important part of the coastal defences.

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

Metrics are rows; months run left to right.
Rustington wave buoy monthly means 2020Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)463222222444
Mean maximum wave height (ft)685333443656
Mean peak period (s)986775565677
Mean zero-crossing period (s)454443343444
Mean energy period (s)------------
Mean reported period (s)986765565034
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre------------
Mean peak wave directionSSWconcentration 92%SSWconcentration 95%SEconcentration 55%SSEconcentration 63%Sconcentration 57%SSWconcentration 64%SWconcentration 84%SSWconcentration 73%Sconcentration 58%SSWconcentration 77%SSWconcentration 81%SSWconcentration 77%
Mean directional spread (°)20.818.120.826.523.726.323.824.925.222.022.421.7
Mean reported wave directionSSWconcentration 91%SSWconcentration 95%SEconcentration 56%SSEconcentration 61%SSEconcentration 54%SSWconcentration 63%SWconcentration 83%SSWconcentration 72%SWconcentration 80%SSWconcentration 98%SSWconcentration 80%SSWconcentration 77%
Mean water temperature(°C)8.88.48.610.312.916.417.919.717.914.912.69.7

Swipe sideways to see more months.

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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