Long Beach • Statistics for January

January: The Cape Doctor Has the Run

January is dominated by the South Atlantic High and its screaming ESE-SE-SSE flow. Wind data shows a combined 67 percent of observations from the offshore quarter, with SE at 25.5 percent and SSE at 27.0 percent as the leading directions. However, much of that wind blows between 30 and 50kph, which explains why ideal surf conditions sit at just 13 percent: the direction is perfect but the strength is often too much. Swell energy averages a solid 7.5ft (2.3m) with a long period of 11.1s, mostly from SW at 27.6 percent and SSW at 17.8 percent. The long-period S/SW swell wraps around and puts real power into the northwest-facing shore, but the true golden N/WNW/NW window is nearly absent. Expect the cleanest waves in the early morning before the afternoon southeast wind peaks. Water temperature is 18.2C, air temps average a pleasant 20.0C, and rainfall is very low.