Cannon Beach • Statistics for December

December: Peak Winter Power

December is the crown jewel of the Cannon Beach surf year. The average swell height is the largest of any month at 8ft (2.5m), the period is a solid 12.4s, and the west-facing beach is fully exposed to the winter swell train. W (24 percent), WNW (16 percent) and WSW (12 percent) are the primary swell directions, and while the spread is more varied than in summer, the amount of 2-2.5m energy is impressive. This is the month when the North Pacific can go from solid to spectacular in a single storm cycle.

Conditions are also at their most favorable for wind, with ideal surf wind occurring 35 percent of the time. Offshore flow from ENE through SE accounts for roughly 31 percent of the wind distribution, giving surfers frequent opportunities to score clean, groomed, long-period waves. The trade-off is December rain: precipitation averages 9.57 mm/day, air temps average 5.2°C, and water temp is 9.6°C. Full winter rubber is non-negotiable. When a deep low-pressure system, a strong offshore gradient and a long-period W/WNW swell align, Cannon Beach can be genuinely epic, a fitting way to close out the year.