Moruya Breakwall • Statistics for August

August: Late Winter, Still Worth the Paddle

August holds on to a decent share of winter quality, with ideal wind at 44 percent and an average period of 8.9s, though average size eases to about 3.5ft (1.1m). The swells still lean southern - SSE 19 percent, SE 15 percent, S 14 percent - with the favorite E/ENE/ESE/NE sector contributing a healthy 41 percent, including a chunk of 3-5ft (1-1.5m) groundswell. Wind patterns remain offshore-dominant: SW through WNW totals about 33 percent, and even the NNW and NW quadrants add more cross-offshore than cross-onshore flow. The NE sea breeze is slowly waking up, as the bad NE/E quadrant reaches about 10 percent, but there are still plenty of clean-skin days. Water temperature bottoms out at 15.1°C, the coldest of the year, while air temps stay cool at 10.9°C. August surf is less punchy than June-July but more consistent than the spring months that follow.