Osbourne • Statistics for August

August: Warm Water, Small Tropical Swells

August sees a slight improvement in wave period, climbing to 7.7s, but the average swell height remains stuck at 3ft (1.0m). The dominant directions are still SSW (28.9 percent) and S (28.4 percent), but the more useful SSE (16.7 percent) and SE (9.9 percent) directions are well represented, and the favorable E-SSE sector as a whole sits near 35 percent. Most wave energy falls in the 0.5-1m and 1-1.5m ranges, so it remains small and fun-sized rather than powerful. The wind picture brightens considerably: while SW (22.3 percent) and SSW (14.5 percent) still lead, the combined W, WNW, NW, and NNW component is strong, giving Osbourne its highest 'ideal wind' percentage of the year at 45 percent. Water temperature peaks at 14.2°C, air temperatures average 18.0°C, and precipitation drops to 2.60 mm/day. Late August is the first time of the year when tropical systems spinning up in the Atlantic can send long-period E/SE swell into the Canadian shelf, so keep an eye on the tropics-this is the quiet before the autumn storm season.