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Seaford wave buoy daily means for Mar 2020

Daily means from the Seaford wave buoy for Mar 2020, 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

1,485 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 2.3 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.9–6.4 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 5.9 seconds (10th–90th percentile 4–7.7 seconds). Mean water temperature was 8.6°C (10th–90th percentile 8.2–9.1°C). 13 of 5,918 checked values (0.2%) were excluded by quality control. Across 6 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 2.8 ft and mean wave period was below the same-month mean of 7.5 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

2.3ft
Mean: 3 ft
P10–P90: 0.9 — 6.4 ft
Recorded extremes

0.4 — 11.8 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

5.9secs
P10–P90: 4 — 7.7secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 16.7secs

Available for 738 of 743 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

SSW

Circular concentration: 64%

Mean Water Temperature

8.6°C
P10–P90: 8.2 — 9.1°C
Recorded extremes

7.5 — 9.6°C

Compared With Previous Marchs

Historical baseline from 4,196 observations across 6 years.

Wave Height
3ft
0.2ft above mean
Historical mean 2.789ft
Wave Period
5.9s
1.6s below mean
Historical mean 7.5s
Water Temperature
8.6°C
0.6°C above mean
Historical mean 8°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 Mar 2020Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)QC rejected443223657575442331122222111111
Mean maximum wave height (ft)10654335108128118773442232432212212
Mean peak period (s)7665777667676559456555564984455
Mean zero-crossing period (s)5444444545454444344333433443343
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean reported period (s)7675777667676569557555565984455
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 96%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 89%SSWconcentration 73%WSWconcentration 90%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 97%SWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 95%SWconcentration 99%WSWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 85%SEconcentration 79%SEconcentration 95%SEconcentration 99%SEconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 95%SSEconcentration 98%SEconcentration 70%SSEconcentration 56%NEconcentration 63%ENEconcentration 59%SEconcentration 94%SEconcentration 98%
Mean directional spread (°)18.320.915.919.735.029.320.818.818.417.420.416.022.322.521.629.520.717.926.423.820.921.420.031.128.141.739.623.422.130.426.1
Mean reported wave directionSWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 96%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 89%SSWconcentration 71%WSWconcentration 91%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 100%WSWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 97%SWconcentration 97%SWconcentration 95%SWconcentration 99%WSWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 87%SEconcentration 82%SEconcentration 94%SEconcentration 99%SEconcentration 99%SSEconcentration 95%SSEconcentration 97%SSEconcentration 78%SSEconcentration 51%ENEconcentration 54%ENEconcentration 54%SSEconcentration 96%SEconcentration 97%
Mean water temperature(°C)7.98.08.28.38.48.28.28.48.48.58.78.78.58.68.88.99.09.19.29.18.98.98.88.88.88.78.78.78.58.38.3

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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