Turtle Head • Statistics for April

April: A Puzzle of Dying Trades and First Southwest Swells

April is a shoulder month where two swell regimes collide. The average swell height bottoms out at 0.9m (3ft) and the period dips to 7.0 seconds. The NNE still claims a 55.8 percent share, but now the wave heights are predominantly small (15.7 percent in the micro 0-0.5m range and 20.4 percent in the 0.5-1m range). At the same time, the southwest monsoon begins to throw its hat in the ring: SSW, SW, WSW and W combine for just under 6 percent of the observations. Those first westerly pulses are short-period but they arrive from the exact direction that Turtle Head is most exposed to.

Wind patterns become tricky. Ideal offshore wind drops to 40 percent, with a much more varied compass: NE (13.2 percent), ENE (11.3 percent), E (7.1 percent) compete with SSW (2.3 percent), SW (3.3 percent), WSW (4.9 percent) and W (6.5 percent). Sea breezes are becoming more persistent, and the surf is often smaller and less organized. The ocean is warming (28.3°C, air 28.4°C) and precipitation starts climbing to 0.98 mm/day. April is not the best month, but the arrival of that first real SSW-W swell can produce a few fun, rippable walls - usually at dawn before the onshore breeze hits.