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Sevenstones wave buoy daily means for May 2021

Daily means from the Sevenstones wave buoy for May 2021, 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

733 wave-buoy observations covered all 31 days. Typical wave height was 5.2 ft (10th–90th percentile 2.3–10.5 ft), while the reported wave period averaged 8.1 seconds (10th–90th percentile 7–10 seconds). Typical wind was 18.3 mph (10th–90th percentile 8.1–33.3 mph) and mean water temperature was 11°C (10th–90th percentile 10.6–11.6°C). 1 of 3,665 checked values (0%) were excluded by quality control. Across 11 comparable years, mean wave height was above the same-month mean of 4.5 ft and mean wave period was above the same-month mean of 7.6 seconds.

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

Typical Significant Wave Height

5.2ft
Mean: 6 ft
P10–P90: 2.3 — 10.5 ft
Recorded extremes

0.3 — 22.6 ft

Available for 732 of 733 hourly samples

Mean Observed Wave Period

8.1secs
P10–P90: 7 — 10secs
Recorded extremes

5 — 12secs

Typical Observed Wind

WSW, 18.3mph
Mean: 19.5 mph
P10–P90: 8.1 — 33.3 mph
Recorded extremes

1.1 — 47.2 mph

Circular concentration: 38%

Mean Water Temperature

11°C
P10–P90: 10.6 — 11.6°C
Recorded extremes

10.1 — 12.5°C

Compared With Previous Mays

Historical baseline from 8,105 observations across 11 years.

Wave Height
6ft
1.5ft above mean
Historical mean 4.5ft
Wave Period
8.1s
0.5s above mean
Historical mean 7.6s
Water Temperature
11°C
0.7°C below mean
Historical mean 11.7°C

Chart showing grouped wave observations for Sevenstones. 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 Sevenstones wave buoy

Sevenstones Lightship (WMO 62107) is a UK Met Office station west of Land's End, near the Seven Stones reef in the Western Approaches. Its exposed offshore position shows Atlantic systems before they reach Cornwall and the western English Channel and provides context for a notoriously hazardous shipping area.

Its current data source reports wave height, wave period, wave direction, directional spread, wind conditions, sea temperature, separate swell and wind-sea components and wave spectra.

Metrics are rows; days run left to right.
Sevenstones wave buoy daily means May 2021Last observation shown
Metric
Mean significant wave height (ft)212453581287544610743121666119535564
Mean maximum wave height (ft)-------------------------------
Mean maximum crest height (ft)-------------------------------
Mean maximum trough height (ft)-------------------------------
Mean peak period (s)-------------------------------
Mean average period (s)-------------------------------
Mean period Tm02 (s)-------------------------------
Mean zero-crossing period (s)-------------------------------
Mean maximum wave period (s)-------------------------------
Mean reported period (s)89677897108877889877897798889999
Mean peak wave direction-------------------------------
Mean wave direction-------------------------------
Mean directional spread (°)-------------------------------
Mean wind directionNconcentration 95%WNWconcentration 73%SWconcentration 93%NWconcentration 97%WNWconcentration 86%NEconcentration 56%ESEconcentration 41%SSWconcentration 96%Sconcentration 98%SWconcentration 98%SSWconcentration 64%SSWconcentration 92%NNWconcentration 93%WSWconcentration 42%WSWconcentration 93%WSWconcentration 93%Wconcentration 98%WSWconcentration 88%Wconcentration 86%SSWconcentration 88%WSWconcentration 98%WNWconcentration 90%SWconcentration 94%Wconcentration 91%WNWconcentration 87%WNWconcentration 96%SSEconcentration 97%Econcentration 68%NEconcentration 83%Econcentration 94%ESEconcentration 99%
Mean wind speed (mph)1293128191517302525171013162125231716384019252724911861218
Mean water temperature(°C)10.710.910.810.710.510.510.410.610.710.810.810.910.911.011.011.111.211.311.511.311.111.211.111.011.111.311.311.411.711.811.7

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 Met Office Marine observations.

Learn how SurfHog combines, checks and summarizes observations in the data and methodology notes.

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