Nanakuli Tracks Surf Stats

This image illustrates the variation of swells directed at Nanakuli Tracks over a normal December and is based upon 2953 NWW3 model predictions since 2006 (values every 3 hours). The wave model does not forecast surf and wind right at the shore so we have chosen the best grid node based on what we know about Nanakuli Tracks, and at Nanakuli Tracks the best grid node is 41 km away (25 miles). The rose diagram illustrates the distribution of swell directions and swell sizes, while the graph at the bottom shows the same thing without direction information. Five colours represent increasing wave sizes. Very small swells of less than 0.5m (1.5 feet) high are shown in blue. These occurred only 99% of the time. Green and yellow represent increasing swell sizes and red represents largest swells greater than >3m (>10ft). In both graphs, the area of any colour is proportional to how frequently that size swell occurs. The diagram suggests that the dominant swell direction, shown by the largest spokes, was SW, whereas the the most common wind blows from the ENE. Because the wave model grid is away from the coast, sometimes a strong offshore wind blows largest waves away from Nanakuli Tracks and out to sea. We combine these with the no surf category of the bar chart. To avoid confusion we don't show these in the rose plot. Because wind determines whether or not waves are good for surfing at Nanakuli Tracks, you can select a similar diagram that shows only the swells that were predicted to coincide with glassy or offshore wind conditions. During a typical December, swells large enough to cause clean enough to surf waves at Nanakuli Tracks run for about 1.0% of the time.

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