Santa Maria • Statistics for August

August: More of the Same - Clean, Small, and Manageable

August is the peak of the summer wind window, with ideal offshore conditions 41% of the time - the best month by this metric. The winds are lighter and more variable; NNE drops to 31.3%, NE to 21.4%, while N and NNW combine for over 23% of the wind clock. On the swell side, the average height remains at 1.3m (4ft), period 8.2s. NNE swell is still dominant (53.8%) but less overwhelmingly so; NE contributes 22.6% and there are even tiny hints of ESE/SE windswell (around 1-2% each) from the tropical Atlantic. The wave-height distribution is flatter, with a lot of 1-1.5m (3-5ft) surf and only about 13% of waves over 1.5m (5ft). Water temperature peaks near 26.3°C, air temperatures hit 25.8°C, and this is the wettest month of our dataset at 1.03 mm/day, though still mostly dry. August gives you clean, user-friendly waves but rarely any power.