Freshwater and Harbord Wind Stats

The figure describes how often and how strongly the wind blows from different directions over a normal May. The largest 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 the darkest shade of blue. It is based on 2944 NWW3 forecasts of wind since since 2007, at 3hr intervals, for the closest NWW3 model node to Freshwater and Harbord, located 30 km away (19 miles). There are insufficient recording stations world wide to use actual wind data. Invevitably some coastal places have very localized wind effects that would not be predicted by NWW3. According to the model, the dominant wind at Freshwater and Harbord blows from the E. If the rose diagram shows a close to circular outline, it means there is no strong bias in wind direction at Freshwater and Harbord. 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 May, the model suggests that winds are light enough for the sea to be glassy (pale blue) about 5% of the time (2 days each May) and blows offshore 17% of the time (0 days in an average May). Over an average May wind stronger than >40kph (25mph) was expected for only a single days at Freshwater and Harbord

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