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Seaford wave buoy daily means for Aug 2020

Daily means from the Seaford wave buoy for Aug 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

1,487 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 1.5 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.6–5.6 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 5.9 seconds (10th–90th percentile 3.5–8.7 seconds). Mean water temperature was 19.8°C (10th–90th percentile 18.9–20.5°C). 2 of 5,931 checked values (0%) were excluded by quality control. Across 6 comparable years, mean wave height was below the same-month mean of 2.4 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 5.4 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

1.5ft
Mean: 2.3 ft
P10–P90: 0.6 — 5.6 ft
Recorded extremes

0.3 — 12.1 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

5.9secs
P10–P90: 3.5 — 8.7secs
Recorded extremes

1.7 — 12.5secs

Observed Wave Direction

SW

Circular concentration: 91%

Mean Water Temperature

19.8°C
P10–P90: 18.9 — 20.5°C
Recorded extremes

18.2 — 22.4°C

Compared With Previous Augusts

Historical baseline from 4,339 observations across 6 years.

Wave Height
2.3ft
0.1ft below mean
Historical mean 2.362ft
Wave Period
5.9s
0.5s above mean
Historical mean 5.4s
Water Temperature
19.8°C
0.7°C above mean
Historical mean 19.1°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 Aug 2020Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)3322211111111111122357537734211
Mean maximum wave height (ft)4433321111111111234481185111056321
Mean peak period (s)5444478887876765344666656766845
Mean zero-crossing period (s)4433355443433443333445445544333
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean reported period (s)5544678888876865344766657767846
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionWSWconcentration 100%WSWconcentration 99%WSWconcentration 98%WSWconcentration 94%SWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 89%SSWconcentration 79%SSWconcentration 78%SWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 89%SSWconcentration 90%SWconcentration 99%WSWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 90%SWconcentration 97%SWconcentration 98%SSWconcentration 94%SWconcentration 97%SWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 97%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 93%SWconcentration 100%WSWconcentration 92%Wconcentration 41%SSWconcentration 87%
Mean directional spread (°)21.021.024.627.931.328.839.242.641.241.538.136.429.928.320.833.833.327.225.726.723.516.917.219.719.815.720.617.331.928.844.3
Mean reported wave directionWSWconcentration 99%WSWconcentration 99%WSWconcentration 97%WSWconcentration 94%SWconcentration 92%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 85%SSWconcentration 80%SWconcentration 75%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 87%SSWconcentration 85%SWconcentration 98%WSWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 88%SWconcentration 96%SWconcentration 98%SSWconcentration 92%SWconcentration 97%SWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 95%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 93%SWconcentration 100%WSWconcentration 92%Wconcentration 35%SSWconcentration 85%
Mean water temperature(°C)19.219.319.419.319.519.719.719.619.619.820.520.720.420.320.220.120.120.420.420.620.420.520.119.919.819.419.219.018.718.518.4

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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