Haast Beach • Statistics for January

January: The Summer Lull Between Tasman Pulses

January is classic mid-summer conditions for the West Coast. The average swell is only 4ft (1.2m) with a 10.8s period, so there is still enough period to make waves rideable, but the energy lacks the heavy Southern Ocean punch of winter. W-direction swell dominates at 42 percent, while the more favorable WNW, NW, and NNW directions make up 23, 13, and 11 percent respectively. Most of that swell sits in the 1.5-3ft (0.5-1m) and 3-5ft (1-1.5m) ranges, making for clean, playful waves when the wind cooperates. Unfortunately, it only cooperates 22 percent of the time. The dominant surface winds are WSW (20%) and W (15%), with a healthy dose of NE/ENE sea breeze pushing in during the afternoon. That means the typical summer day is a morning glass-off followed by choppy onshore bumps by midday. Water temp sits at 15.6°C, air temps average 13.7°C, and rainfall runs to 6.47 mm/day - green and lush, but not always clean.