Parking Lots • Statistics for January

January: Winter Swell Puts the North-Facing Peak on Alert

The North Atlantic storm track hits full stride in January, and the exposed north-facing sandbars at Parking Lots feel every bit of it. Average surf height pushes to around 5ft (1.5m) with an average period of 10.0s, so there is meaningful, powerful swell in the water. The direction breakdown is far from perfect - NE and ENE together account for 58 percent of the wave energy - but a healthy 34 percent arrives from the favorable N/NNE/NNW windows. When a strong low-pressure system or a favorable NAO phase lines up the fetch, these north pulses generate the best, most organized peaks of the month.

Wind is the limiting factor. The trades are locked in from ENE/E/NE more than 70 percent of the time, leaving a cross-shore bump on the face and making the lineup sectiony. Truly offshore S/SSW/SW flow is a rare commodity, although the monthly clean-wind tally still reaches 31 percent. With air temperatures around 26°C (78°F) and water at 26.5°C (79.7°F), it is a warm-water winter - you just need to hunt the dawn offshore windows for the magic.