The figure illustrates how often and how strongly the wind blows from different directions over a normal March. The largest spokes point in the directions the wind most commonly blows from and the shade of blue implies the strength, with deep blue showing the strongest winds. It is based on 1724 NWW3 forecasts of wind since since 2007, at 3hr intervals, for the closest NWW3 model node to El Porto Beach, located 46 km away (29 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 El Porto Beach blows from the SW. If the rose diagram shows a close to circular outline, it means there is no strong bias in wind direction at El Porto Beach. Converseley, dominant spokes show favoured directions, and the more dark blue, the stronger the wind. Spokes point in the direction the wind blows from. During a typical March, the model suggests that winds are light enough for the sea to be glassy (the lightest shade of blue) about 27% of the time (8 days each March) and blows offshore 37% of the time (11 days in an average March). Over an average March wind stronger than >40kph (25mph) was expected for only a single days at El Porto Beach

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.