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Seaford wave buoy daily means for Jan 2023

Daily means from the Seaford wave buoy for Jan 2023, 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

1,482 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 3.2 ft (10th–90th percentile 0.7–8.6 ft), while mean average of more than one wave period type was 7.5 seconds (10th–90th percentile 4.6–12.5 seconds). Typical wind was 0 mph and mean water temperature was 8.9°C (10th–90th percentile 7.7–10.2°C). 24 of 6,638 checked values (0.4%) were excluded by quality control. Across 9 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 3.7 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 6.4 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

3.2ft
Mean: 4 ft
P10–P90: 0.7 — 8.6 ft
Recorded extremes

0.4 — 12.3 ft

Mean Observed Wave Period

7.5secs
P10–P90: 4.6 — 12.5secs
Recorded extremes

2.4 — 16.7secs

Available for 741 of 743 hourly samples

Observed Wave Direction

SW

Circular concentration: 87%

Mean Water Temperature

8.9°C
P10–P90: 7.7 — 10.2°C
Recorded extremes

5.5 — 10.4°C

Compared With Previous Januarys

Historical baseline from 6,416 observations across 9 years.

Wave Height
4ft
0.3ft above mean
Historical mean 3.7ft
Wave Period
7.5s
1.1s above mean
Historical mean 6.4s
Water Temperature
8.9°C
0.6°C above mean
Historical mean 8.3°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 Jan 2023Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)53784598677QC rejected777423221111111123QC rejected
Mean maximum wave height (ft)84111278131291111151112117243321111111345
Mean peak period (s)710676677777877781297578116812812865
Mean zero-crossing period (s)5455445555565555645444544444344
Mean energy period (s)-------------------------------
Mean reported period (s)5455455555565555645344544444444
Mean wave power, kilowatts per metre-------------------------------
Mean peak wave directionSWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 100%SSWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 100%SSWconcentration 93%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 97%WSWconcentration 100%WSWconcentration 98%Sconcentration 80%Sconcentration 80%Sconcentration 74%SSEconcentration 86%SWconcentration 83%SSWconcentration 81%SSEconcentration 84%Sconcentration 84%SWconcentration 86%WSWconcentration 100%WSWconcentration 100%
Mean directional spread (°)18.828.919.416.717.719.519.018.615.619.416.715.615.818.416.120.431.624.021.423.935.149.055.235.944.958.140.054.732.717.416.3
Mean reported wave directionSWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 99%SSWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 98%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 99%SWconcentration 92%SWconcentration 100%SWconcentration 97%WSWconcentration 100%WSWconcentration 98%Sconcentration 80%Sconcentration 67%Sconcentration 64%SSEconcentration 81%SWconcentration 78%SSWconcentration 75%SSEconcentration 81%Sconcentration 79%SWconcentration 87%WSWconcentration 100%WSWconcentration 100%
Mean water temperature(°C)9.69.710.210.210.210.210.29.99.59.39.29.29.29.39.08.78.28.48.68.78.48.38.08.18.18.07.87.67.77.77.7

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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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