Rainbow Bay Wind Stats

This picture describes how commonly 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 indicates the strength, with deep blue strongest. It is based on 3440 NWW3 forecasts of wind since since 2007, at 3hr intervals, for the closest NWW3 model node to Rainbow Bay, located 19 km away (12 miles). There are insufficient recording stations world wide to use actual wind data. No doubt some coastal places have very localized wind effects that would not be predicted by NWW3. According to the model, the prevailing wind at Rainbow Bay blows from the ESE. If the rose plot shows a nearly round shape, it means there is no strong bias in wind direction at Rainbow Bay. By contrast, dominant spokes show favoured directions, and the more the darkest shade of 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 (light blue) about 14% of the time (4 days each May) and blows offshore 65% of the time (1 days in an average May). Over an average May winds exceeding >40kph (25mph) are not expected, but 3 have winds on the range 30-40 (19-25) at Rainbow Bay

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