El Faro • Statistics for July

July: Midwinter Swell Combo

July delivers the highest percentage of useful swell direction of the entire year, if you want to call 4% high. The average swell height is 2.8m (9.2ft), period 12.6s, and the split between WNW (2.2%), NW (1.1%), NNW (0.7%) and even a trace of N (0.1%) is the broadest it gets. In practice, this means a few days each month when long-period northwest groundswell rolls in and finds the beach. Wind-wise, the winter pattern is in full swing: S (24.2%) and SSW (9.5%) offshore flow competes with N (6.6%), NNE (10.9%) and NNW (13.9%) onshore winds, leaving about 21% of the time in the ideal column. Rain is still heavy at 4.95 mm/day, the air is at its coldest at 10.2°C, and water temperature sits at 12.0°C. It's a hood-and-gloves month, but for the few sessions when the wind flips offshore and a NW swell lights up the bank, it's worth every bit of winter misery.