Daytona Beach • Statistics for September

September: The Fall Reawakening

September marks the first major jump back toward quality surf. The average swell height is back up to 2.3ft (0.7m), and average period jumps to 8.9s - the highest of the year - signalling the arrival of more organized, longer-period swell. The direction data is excellent: ENE and E dominate at 31.2% and 35.4%, respectively, with NE at 11.3%, giving the favored NE/ENE/E window roughly 78% of all swell energy. There is meaningful size present too, with 3.3-4.9ft (1-1.5m) waves from ENE, NE and E, and even a smattering of 4.9-6.6ft (1.5-2m) sets from ENE and NE. This is the most promising wave-climate month since early spring.

The catch is wind. The ideal-wind percentage is only 12%, and the most common wind directions are ENE (14.9%), E (12.0%), NE (10.9%) and ESE (10.2%) - almost all onshore or sideshore. That means September often looks promising in the forecast but arrives as bumpy, warbly surf. The exception is during or just after a tropical system, when west winds wrap into the backside of the storm and clean up the eastern quadrants. Water temp still rides high at 28.3°C and air averages 26.0°C, so the fall juice comes with a tropical water bath.