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Seaford wave buoy daily means for May 2017

Daily means from the Seaford wave buoy for May 2017, 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 1.2 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.7–2.6 ft), while the reported wave period averaged 6.5 seconds (10th–90th percentile 3–12 seconds). Mean water temperature was 12.9°C (10th–90th percentile 11.4–14.8°C). 19 of 2,976 checked values (0.6%) were excluded by quality control. Across 3 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 2.1 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 6 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

1.2ft
Mean: 1.5 ft
P10–P90: 0.7 — 2.6 ft
Recorded extremes

0.4 — 7.1 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

6.5secs
P10–P90: 3 — 12secs
Recorded extremes

2 — 15secs

Available for 725 of 744 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

SSW

Circular concentration: 77%

Mean Water Temperature

12.9°C
P10–P90: 11.4 — 14.8°C
Recorded extremes

11.2 — 17.2°C

Compared With Previous Mays

Historical baseline from 1,950 observations across 3 years.

Wave Height
1.5ft
0.6ft below mean
Historical mean 2.1ft
Wave Period
6.5s
0.5s above mean
Historical mean 6s
Water Temperature
12.9°C
In line with the historical mean
Historical mean 12.9°C

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Seaford. 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 Seaford wave buoy

Seaford is a National Network Datawell Directional WaveRider in about 11 metres of water off East Sussex. First deployed on 22 January 2008, it records waves reaching Seaford Bay between Newhaven and Beachy Head and supports assessment of the town's exposed shingle frontage.

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.
Seaford wave buoy daily means May 2017Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)QC rejected211111111122322212321211121121
Mean maximum wave height (ft)-------------------------------
Mean peak period (s)-------------------------------
Mean zero-crossing period (s)-------------------------------
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean reported period (s)6791384658444445911115468687667946
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave direction-------------------------------
Mean directional spread (°)-------------------------------
Mean reported wave directionSSWconcentration 95%SWconcentration 96%SWconcentration 85%SSWconcentration 93%SSEconcentration 77%ESEconcentration 49%SSWconcentration 83%WSWconcentration 58%SSWconcentration 62%SSEconcentration 91%SSEconcentration 80%Sconcentration 97%SWconcentration 96%SSWconcentration 90%SSWconcentration 93%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 91%WSWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 99%WSWconcentration 100%SSWconcentration 61%WSWconcentration 92%SWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 69%SSEconcentration 75%SWconcentration 87%SWconcentration 87%SSWconcentration 55%WSWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 96%
Mean water temperature(°C)11.311.611.411.511.511.511.611.611.711.711.812.112.312.512.713.113.112.812.913.113.613.813.714.214.314.514.614.814.814.815.4

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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