Sunglow Pier • Statistics for March

March: Lengthening Periods and Shifting Winds

March is a transition month, but far from a bad one. The average wave period rises to 8.4s - the longest of the first quarter - hinting at the powerful distant swells that are now rolling through the Atlantic. The swell direction profile remains excellent: E (23.5%), ENE (16.9%), and NE (15.1%) push the favorable share to 62%, and a meaningful 9.4% of the spectrum reaches 3-8ft (1-2.5m). In fact, March sees the year's first traces of 6.5-8ft (2-2.5m) energy arriving from the NE. The caveat is wind: ideal days slip to 19% as the Bermuda High begins to reassert itself and onshore SE-E winds (SE 8.9%, E 7.9%) grow more frequent.

Air temperatures warm to 19°C (66°F), water climbs to 21°C (70°F), and spring showers add up to 2.8 mm/day. The forecast strategy is simple: jump on the days when a late-season cold front has just cleared the coast, leaving offshore W-SW winds and lingering NE groundswell. Those days are still common enough in March to keep the pier well worth checking.