Seal Beach • Statistics for April

April: Transition and Window Hunting

April is the true shoulder month. Swell heights remain around 3.3ft (1.0m), but the direction mix starts tilting toward the southwest - WSW 40.6%, SW 27.9%, W 24.4% - as winter west swells and first southern hemisphere pulses compete. Average period is a powerful 13.4s, and while most waves still fall in the 2-3ft (0.5-1m) range, roughly 31% are 3-5ft (1-1.5m), giving the better swells some real push. The bigger problem is the wind: ideal conditions only 15% of the time. SW and WSW onshore winds dominate the afternoon (SW 17.1%, WSW 18.5%), turning the surface ragged. Early morning is the window, when overnight land breeze and NE gradients can leave a brief clean texture. Precip is low (0.58 mm/day), air temperatures warm into the mid 15.4°C, and water temp drops to its annual minimum 13.5°C - the ocean is still slow to respond to spring warmth.