Good Rats • Statistics for January

January: Mid-Winter Heavyweights

The North Atlantic is at its most active in January, and Good Rats sees an average swell height of around 9-10ft (2.9m) with periods of 11.8s. That places this month squarely in the powerful-to-epic range - these are long-period, high-energy waves. Swell direction is dominated by SSW (8.6%), SW (10.3%) and WSW (9.1%), with W adding another 3.9%, so the southwest-facing beach is wide open to the best possible approach angles. A meaningful chunk of the energy falls in the 1.5-2m (5-6.5ft), 2-2.5m (6.5-8ft) and over 2.5m (8ft+) classes, so expect hollow, heavy sandbar pits rather than playful summer rollers.

Wind is the saving grace. Offshore flow from the NNE, NE, ENE and E combines for roughly 43% of observations, and the data show ideal surfing wind 37% of the time. When a cold front clears the coast and the wind swings into the northeast, Good Rats walls up into clean, well-defined lines. Air temperatures average -1.9°C (28.6°F) and water temperature is 5.9°C (42.6°F), so a 5/4 hooded wetsuit, booties and gloves are essential. Precipitation averages 6.6mm/day, often in the form of snow or rain that can stir up the sandbars, but also signals the passing lows that deliver the swell.