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Conditions at Oum El Bouir in January
January: Midwinter Groundswell
January is a true heart-of-winter month. Average swell runs around 5ft (1.6m) with a powerful 12.2s period, placing most of the energy squarely in the long-period, high-quality camp. The wave rose is dominated by NNW (45%), NW (22%), and N (13%), with almost no true SW/WSW swell in the data. That means the west-facing beach is relying on refracted NNW/NW groundswell. The wind regime is largely offshore and cross-offshore from the NE/ENE quadrants, but the trade wind, while favorable in direction, is often blowing too hard: NNE, NE, and ENE winds combine for roughly 70% of observations, and the ideal-wind window is just 22%. When the trades ease below 20kph, the long-period peaks clean up and Oum El Bouir turns on. Water temperature is 17.9°C, average air temperature 17.2°C, and rainfall is a negligible 0.12 mm/day.
Average Spot conditions at Oum El Bouir in January
Swell history for January
Wind history for January
Swell quality
Analyze the groundswell consistency at Oum El Bouir during January. Based on historical data, there is a % probability of groundswell occurring this month. The chart below provides a detailed breakdown of the average wave height distribution, offering deep insights into the swell quality and surf potential you can expect at Oum El Bouir for your next trip in January.
Ground swell
Ground swell by size
Wind conditions
Evaluate the wind and swell alignment at Oum El Bouir for January. Our analysis shows that favorable offshore or side-shore winds coincide with surfable swell approximately % of the time. The accompanying graph illustrates the average size distribution of waves during these optimal wind windows at Oum El Bouir.