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Sandown Bay wave buoy daily means for May 2026

Daily means from the Sandown Bay wave buoy for May 2026, 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

1,446 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 0.9 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.4–2 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 5.8 seconds (10th–90th percentile 3.1–10.8 seconds). Mean water temperature was 13.8°C (10th–90th percentile 12.9–15.5°C). 13 of 5,750 checked values (0.2%) were excluded by quality control. Across 16 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 1.2 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 5.2 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

0.9ft
Mean: 1.1 ft
P10–P90: 0.4 — 2 ft
Recorded extremes

0.2 — 5.2 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

5.8secs
P10–P90: 3.1 — 10.8secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 18.2secs

Available for 727 of 728 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

SSE

Circular concentration: 86%

Mean Water Temperature

13.8°C
P10–P90: 12.9 — 15.5°C
Recorded extremes

12.5 — 16.9°C

Available for 727 of 728 hourly samples

Compared With Previous Mays

Historical baseline from 23,706 observations across 16 years.

Wave Height
1.1ft
0.1ft below mean
Historical mean 1.247ft
Wave Period
5.8s
0.6s above mean
Historical mean 5.2s
Water Temperature
13.8°C
1.3°C above mean
Historical mean 12.5°C

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Sandown Bay. 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 Sandown Bay wave buoy

Sandown Bay is a Channel Coastal Observatory National Network wave station off the east coast of the Isle of Wight. Its nearshore record represents conditions entering the bay between Culver Down and Dunnose, helping monitor a developed and erosion-sensitive frontage exposed to English Channel seas.

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.
Sandown Bay wave buoy daily means May 2026Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)1110111223111111113211111111011
Mean maximum wave height (ft)2110121224212212225321111122111
Mean peak period (s)444655334554665555579611810974678
Mean zero-crossing period (s)3333433334434443434443443333333
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSEconcentration 96%SEconcentration 91%SSEconcentration 91%SSEconcentration 93%SEconcentration 91%SEconcentration 94%ESEconcentration 96%ESEconcentration 98%ESEconcentration 99%ESEconcentration 99%SEconcentration 91%Sconcentration 90%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 100%Sconcentration 96%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 98%Sconcentration 100%Sconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 93%Sconcentration 99%Sconcentration 97%SSEconcentration 88%SSEconcentration 92%SEconcentration 86%ESEconcentration 98%SSEconcentration 93%Sconcentration 94%Sconcentration 98%
Mean directional spread (°)30.731.532.834.329.028.931.329.123.115.727.527.422.025.130.826.125.025.023.823.526.028.425.027.832.733.023.628.434.032.729.6
Mean water temperature(°C)12.712.812.813.013.013.113.213.313.613.513.313.413.413.313.313.313.413.313.313.413.614.014.314.614.815.115.315.515.615.615.6

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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