Espinho Wind Stats

This image describes how frequently and how strongly the wind blows from different directions through a typical June. The longest spokes point in the directions the wind most commonly blows from and the shade of blue indicates the strength, with the strongest winds shown by deep blue. It is based on 2786 NWW3 forecasts of wind since since 2006, at 3hr intervals, for the closest NWW3 model node to Espinho, located 30 km away (19 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 Espinho blows from the WNW. If the rose plot shows a nearly round shape, it means there is no strong bias in wind direction at Espinho. By contrast, dominant spokes show favoured directions, and the more dark blue, the stronger the wind. Spokes point in the direction the wind blows from. Over an average June, the model suggests that winds are light enough for the sea to be glassy (the lightest shade of blue) about 13% of the time (4 days each June) and blows offshore 18% of the time (5 days in an average June). In a typical June wind stronger than >40kph (25mph) was forecast for only a single days at Espinho

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