Queensland · Wave buoy
Palm Beach wave buoy
Live wave readings from the Queensland Government wave buoy off Palm Beach on the Gold Coast.
Latest reading
Latest reading . Average significant wave height over the past 24 hours: 0.9 m. Highest single wave in the past 7 days: 3.4 m on .
Wave height, past 7 days
Significant wave height (Hs) Maximum wave (Hmax)
Nearby storm-tide gauge
Gold Coast gauge, about 19 km away: the sea was 0.02 m above the predicted tide at .
What the wave numbers mean
- Significant wave height (Hs)
- The average height of the highest third of waves in a 26.6-minute record. It is close to what an experienced observer would call "the wave height".
- Maximum wave height (Hmax)
- The single highest wave in the same record. Expect occasional waves near this size, often around one and a half to two times Hs.
- Peak period (Tp)
- The period, in seconds, of the waves carrying the most energy. Long periods (above about 10 seconds) usually mean groundswell from a distant system; short periods mean local wind waves.
- Direction
- The direction the peak-period waves are coming from, relative to true north.
- Sea surface temperature
- An approximate water temperature measured at the buoy.
- Storm-tide residual
- How far the measured water level is above (+) or below (−) the predicted tide at a gauge. A large positive residual during a cyclone or strong onshore wind is storm surge.
Official marine information
- Bureau of Meteorology marine forecasts and warnings
- Queensland Government wave monitoring
- Gold Coast 7-day forecast on Atmosphr
- Emergency at sea: 000, or VHF channel 16.
Other Queensland buoys: Tweed Offshore · Tweed Heads · Bilinga · Gold Coast · Brisbane · North Moreton Bay · Woorim · Caloundra · Mooloolaba · Wide Bay · Hervey Bay · Bundaberg · Gladstone · One Tree Island · Emu Park · Mackay · Townsville · Cairns · Albatross Bay (Weipa).
Sources
Wave data: Coastal Data System, near real time wave data; storm-tide data: Coastal Data System, near real time storm tide data. Both © State of Queensland (Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Feed last received by Atmosphr ; refreshed every 30 minutes. Readings are as published and may be revised; for official marine warnings check the Bureau of Meteorology.