Mukilteo Weather Buoy

You might have noticed a red buoy with an antenna. It provides the data for this page (still in development). It might help you decide you whether it is worth dragging a kayak down to the water. Hardware and software are still early prototypes; expect limited reliability.

Old backend

This page is served off of google forms + sheets. It has been hitting limits recently. You probably want the new version

Wave Activity

Note that this changed in July. Now reporting only the maximum displacement over 4 seconds (wh4) as changes over long periods were more affected by wind. The wh4_m5 is the median of the past 5 samples. Wave (specific) energy subjectively seems to be a more reliable indicator of conditions and is largely immune to wind-induced noise.

This shows the raw data points underlying the most recent measurement. This is a graph of the measured buoy height over 16 seconds, measured at 16hz. Google sheets refreshes about every 5m:

Power Status (approximate sun intensity):

This reflects the operating status of the buoy. The revised buoy is far more efficient and tends to charge the battery fully earlier in the day. This makes the solar cell output as indication of sun not work as well.

Data Quality / Known Issues

Google sheets is starting to hit limits. Working on a replacement backend. This data will break intermittantly until that is done.
It was observed on 7/1/2022 that the buoy was occasionally upside-down. This can cause gaps in the data as the antenna being submerged greatly increases SNR. When data comes through it can be determined by the solar cells not working in bright light. In sufficiently heavy waves it will eventually re-right itself. If you see it flat-side up feel free to right it.
The anchor line was cut around 6/11, the buoy turned up in Kingston, and was returned (Thanks!), re-painted, and re-launched.
Data starting on 5/22/2022 comes from a new version of the buoy and may not be directly comparable. The prior prototype failed on 5/20/2022 due to the mx1.25 male battery connector coming loose. Additionally, the new version leaked around 5/24 and was repaired and re-launched on 6/4/2022. Kind of expected a few proto-boards taped together being knocked around in the waves to have failed sooner than they did. This version uses a goretex vent which may reduce wind-related noise. Updates describing the new hardware pending.