Amado • Statistics for September

September: The Autumn Awakening

September is the first month of the autumn revival. The average swell height edges up to 1.5m (5ft), and the period pushes back to 10.4s-a sign that longer-period energy is returning to the North Atlantic. The northwest swell direction is still dominant at 47.1 percent, but there are important increases in west-northwest (14.3%) and west (3.8%) directions, which are better-aligned for Amado. Wave heights are still modest, but the 1.5-2m (5-6ft) range is appearing more frequently, and the 2-2.5m (6-8ft) class is starting to make inroads.

The winds begin to shift in the surfer's favor. The ideal offshore wind percentage rises to 15 percent, up from the disastrous summer lows. The north-northwest wind remains the most common direction at 41.2 percent, but it's less intense, and there's a slight increase in the frequency of lighter winds. More importantly, the east-northeast and east components (offshore for Amado) begin to appear in sufficient numbers to create clean windows. Water temps are at 19.1°C, air temps at 21.0°C, and rainfall is still low at 0.75 mm/day, but the swell is building. This is a transitional month that rewards those who can read the charts for the early autumn lows.