Picnic Tables • Statistics for September

September: Autumn's First Roar

September is when the North Atlantic starts to wake back up. Average swell height rises to 2.5ft (0.8m) and, more importantly, the average period jumps to 9.0s, the highest of the year. E swell still leads with 37 percent, but ENE is right behind at 36 percent, with NE adding 13 percent and ESE 8 percent. Combine those, and nearly 95 percent of September's swell energy comes from the ideal directions for Picnic Tables.

The catch remains the wind. The prevailing flow is from the ENE at 15 percent, E at 13, ESE at 12 and NE at 9, all of which are onshore and tend to make the longer-period lines lumpy and sectiony. Favorable W/SW winds only occur 12 percent of the time, so most September surf is a trade-off between extra power and bumpy conditions. On a good day, with a tropical swell running and the wind clocking west, the break can flash some rare quality. Water temp peaks at 28.6°C, air temps average 27.4°C, and rainfall stays high at 6.25 mm/day.