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Seaford wave buoy daily means for Apr 2020

Daily means from the Seaford wave buoy for Apr 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

1,440 wave-buoy observations covered all 30 days. Typical wave height was 0.9 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.5–1.9 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 7.5 seconds (10th–90th percentile 3–14.1 seconds). Mean water temperature was 10.3°C (10th–90th percentile 8.9–11.4°C). 21 of 5,734 checked values (0.4%) were excluded by quality control. Across 6 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 1.7 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 7.3 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

0.9ft
Mean: 1.2 ft
P10–P90: 0.5 — 1.9 ft
Recorded extremes

0.3 — 7.1 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

7.5secs
P10–P90: 3 — 14.1secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 20secs

Available for 716 of 720 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

S

Circular concentration: 68%

Mean Water Temperature

10.3°C
P10–P90: 8.9 — 11.4°C
Recorded extremes

8.2 — 12.6°C

Compared With Previous Aprils

Historical baseline from 4,163 observations across 6 years.

Wave Height
1.2ft
0.5ft below mean
Historical mean 1.739ft
Wave Period
7.5s
0.2s above mean
Historical mean 7.3s
Water Temperature
10.3°C
0.1°C above mean
Historical mean 10.2°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 Apr 2020Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)11211211111111111111111111113QC rejected
Mean maximum wave height (ft)1231232111112221111221112111410
Mean peak period (s)445445109644-54411131084151416158811556
Mean zero-crossing period (s)333333543334333344434444344345
Mean energy period (s)------------------------------
Mean reported period (s)445445109644954511131184151315158911656
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSSEconcentration 71%WSWconcentration 94%WSWconcentration 100%SSWconcentration 75%SEconcentration 98%SWconcentration 88%SWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 86%Sconcentration 71%SSEconcentration 95%Sconcentration 83%SWconcentration 90%Econcentration 59%SEconcentration 99%SEconcentration 95%SSEconcentration 74%SSWconcentration 76%SSWconcentration 82%Sconcentration 73%Econcentration 80%Sconcentration 86%SSWconcentration 78%Sconcentration 75%SSWconcentration 65%SSEconcentration 79%Sconcentration 77%SWconcentration 81%SSEconcentration 66%SSWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 99%
Mean directional spread (°)29.024.918.530.226.234.039.245.735.529.237.055.523.626.925.650.256.852.443.928.363.461.362.162.834.245.555.230.623.519.8
Mean reported wave directionSSEconcentration 72%WSWconcentration 91%WSWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 74%SEconcentration 98%SWconcentration 88%SWconcentration 97%SWconcentration 83%Sconcentration 68%SSEconcentration 95%Sconcentration 83%SWconcentration 88%Econcentration 57%SEconcentration 99%SEconcentration 93%SSEconcentration 73%SSWconcentration 74%SSWconcentration 81%Sconcentration 67%ESEconcentration 74%Sconcentration 68%SSWconcentration 75%SSWconcentration 75%SSWconcentration 65%Sconcentration 77%Sconcentration 76%SWconcentration 82%Sconcentration 60%SSWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 99%
Mean water temperature(°C)8.58.58.89.09.29.39.59.79.810.010.310.510.310.310.510.610.510.610.510.510.610.811.011.111.211.411.611.411.411.5

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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