Waves in Dawlish

Hourly wave forecast for 7 days · updated today, Wednesday, October 28, at 11:25 pm (GMT)

Now · significant height 1.1 ft

Sea state: Smooth · Douglas 2
Period: 5.5 s · SSW
Swell: 0.6 ft · 7 s
Highest expected: 2.4 ft

Today the sea at Dawlish is smooth: 1.1 ft waves with a period of 5.5 s from the south-southwest. The swell, 0.6 ft at 7 s, comes from the southwest. Biggest waves: Tuesday 3, with waves up to 2.9 ft (slight).

Wave height, next 7 days

1.02.03.0 ft 2.9 ft Now

Significant height: the average of the highest third of the waves, what an observer would estimate by eye. Swell: waves arriving from far away, longer.

The waves you may find today

Most common0.6 ft
Significant1.1 ft
Highest expected2.4 ft

One wave in seven is higher than the significant height, and about 3 times a day one reaches 2.4 ft. Before heading out, expect waves of up to 2.4 ft.

The Douglas sea state scale

Degree	Name	Wave height
0	Calm (glassy)	0
1	Calm (rippled)	0.0 ft–0.3 ft
2	Smooth · today	0.3 ft–1.6 ft
3	Slight · week peak	1.6 ft–4.1 ft
4	Moderate	4.1 ft–8.2 ft
5	Rough	8.2 ft–13.1 ft
6	Very rough	13.1 ft–19.7 ft

Waves day by day

Day	Max wave	Sea state	Direction	Max period	Swell	Max wind
Today	2.0 ft	Slight	SW	7 s	1.4 ft SW	15 mph WSW
Thu 29	2.0 ft	Slight	S	6 s	1.2 ft SSW	18 mph SE
Fri 30	2.4 ft	Slight	SE	4 s	2.0 ft SE	17 mph ESE
Sat 31	2.6 ft	Slight	ESE	5 s	2.4 ft ESE	10 mph NNE
Sun 1	1.6 ft	Smooth	ESE	4 s	1.5 ft ESE	7 mph N
Mon 2	2.5 ft	Slight	E	5 s	2.2 ft ESE	11 mph NNE
Tue 3	2.9 ft	Slight	E	5 s	2.6 ft ESE	11 mph NNE

Today, every 3 hours

Time	12:00 am	3:00 am	6:00 am	9:00 am	12:00 pm	3:00 pm	6:00 pm	9:00 pm
Waves	1.7 ft	1.6 ft	1.8 ft	2.0 ft	1.9 ft	1.6 ft	1.4 ft	1.2 ft
Period	6.6 s	6.3 s	5.4 s	4.9 s	4.9 s	5.0 s	5.2 s	5.3 s
Direction	SW	SW	SW	SW	SW	SSW	SSW	SSW
Swell	1.4 ft · 5 s	1.2 ft · 5 s	1.0 ft · 5 s	1.0 ft · 5 s	1.0 ft · 5 s	0.7 ft · 7 s	0.7 ft · 7 s	0.7 ft · 6 s
Wind (mph)	9 WSW	10 SW	12 WSW	12 SW	11 W	11 WSW	10 SW	5 WSW

Previous days

The waves over the last 14 days. Tap a day to see it hour by hour.

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Tue 27	6.6 ft SSW	7 s	3.6 ft SSW
Mon 26	6.2 ft SSW	6 s	2.0 ft SSW
Sun 25	4.3 ft SW	6 s	3.0 ft SSW
Sat 24	6.6 ft SSW	6 s	2.6 ft SSW
Fri 23	7.9 ft SSW	8 s	6.2 ft SSW
Thu 22	6.2 ft SSW	6 s	2.0 ft SW
Wed 21	3.0 ft SW	5 s	2.6 ft SSW

Show all 14 days

Day	Max wave	Period	Swell
Tue 20	2.6 ft SE	4 s	2.3 ft ESE
Mon 19	3.3 ft ESE	4 s	2.6 ft ESE
Sun 18	2.3 ft ENE	4 s	1.3 ft E
Sat 17	1.3 ft NNE	4 s	1.0 ft NE
Fri 16	2.0 ft WSW	5 s	1.6 ft SSW
Thu 15	2.3 ft SSW	4 s	1.3 ft S
Wed 14	2.0 ft SSW	6 s	1.0 ft SSW

These are the models at the start of each day (ECMWF and GFS; waves from Météo-France), not readings from a weather station: there can be differences at specific spots.

Questions about the waves in DawlishQuestions

How are the waves today in Dawlish?

Smooth (1.1 ft with a period of 5.5 s from the south-southwest). The highest wave to expect is around 2.4 ft.

Which day will have the biggest waves this week?

Tuesday 3, with waves up to 2.9 ft (slight).

What is the wave period?

The time, in seconds, between two crests. With long periods (over 10 s) waves come from far away, are cleaner and break harder; with short periods they are wind waves, choppier.

What is significant wave height?

The average of the highest third of the waves. One in seven is higher and, a few times a day, one comes in at almost double: today, about 2.4 ft.

More about Dawlish today

Waves near Dawlish

Only places with a different forecast: spots a few miles apart share the same model cell and wouldn't add anything.

Learn more

Waves: Open-Meteo with Météo-France (MFWAM, up to 10 days) and ECMWF WAM, CC BY 4.0; wave grid point 5.0 mi away. Near the shore, the seabed and the shape of the coast change the waves.

Forecast from Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0) with models from ECMWF, NOAA, Météo-France, DWD, Copernicus Marine and CAMS. Updated at 11:25 pm (local time).

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