The graph illustrates how often and how strongly the wind blows from different directions through a typical February. The biggest spokes point in the directions the wind most commonly blows from and the shade of blue implies the strength, with the strongest winds shown by dark blue. It is based on 1584 NWW3 forecasts of wind since since 2007, at 3hr intervals, for the closest NWW3 model node to Amaralina, located 3 km away (2 miles). There are insufficient recording stations world wide to use actual wind data. Without question some coastal places have very localized wind effects that would not be predicted by NWW3.

According to the model, the prevailing wind at Amaralina blows from the SSE. If the rose graph shows a fairly circular pattern, it means there is no strong bias in wind direction at Amaralina. By contrast, dominant spokes illustrate favoured directions, and the more dark blue, the stronger the wind. Spokes point in the direction the wind blows from. Over an average February, the model suggests that winds are light enough for the sea to be glassy (light blue) about 1.8% of the time (1 days each February) and blows offshore just 4% of the time (1 days in an average February). During a typical February winds exceeding >40kph (25mph) are not expected, but 0 have winds on the range 30-40 (19-25) at Amaralina

IMPORTANT: Beta version feature! Swell heights are open water values from NWW3. There is no attempt to model near-shore effects. Coastal wave heights will generally be less, especially if the break does not have unobstructed exposure to the open ocean.