Long Sands • Statistics for January

January: Deep-Winter Atlantic Punch

The heart of winter delivers the goods at Long Sands. Average swell height comes in around 1.3m (4ft), with an average period of 7.6s - right in the rideable pocket where the North Atlantic's windswell and longer-period groundswell mix together. The dominant swell energies arrive from the NNE, followed by NNW and W, but the most consistent surf-producing window is the NNE/NE/ENE/E quadrant, which accounts for roughly a quarter of all swell observations. Most of this energy sits in the 0.5-1.5m (2-5ft) range, with a healthy share of 1.5-2m (5-7ft) sets from the NNE.

Wind is the good news in January. The prevailing flow is strongly WSW and W, with SW also prominent; these are exactly the offshore/near-offshore directions Long Sands needs to keep the wall clean. Onshore easterlies are relatively rare, though when an Atlantic high slips south of the UK, a bitter NE or E flow can shut the beach down. With 34% ideal surf wind, this is one of the most reliable months of the year. Air temperatures average 5°C, water temperature drops to 6.9°C, and 2mm/day of rain means you'll be suiting up in a 5/4 and booties, but the trade-off is legitimate winter surf.