Tuncurry Breakwall • Statistics for September

September: Spring Transition, Mixed Signals

September is the great meteorological tug-of-war. The winter offshore flow is still present-SW through W accounts for 26.0 percent of winds, and ideal wind comes in at 35 percent-but the NNE/NE trades are already rebuilding, with NNE taking a 13.4 percent share and NE 7.4 percent. Swell direction follows suit: S (18.2) and SSE (16.2) remain dominant, but the NE window wakes up to 12.4 percent and NNE adds 5.7, putting the optimal NNE-NE-ENE-E window back up to 32.0 percent. Average height and period are still respectable at 5.6ft (1.7m) and 9.0s, with the bulk of the surf in the 3-6ft (1-1.8m) zone. Water temp is 19.2°C and air averages 16.9°C with very dry conditions (1.66 mm/day). The best sessions in September come when a slow-moving high sets up in the Tasman Sea and a cold front approaches-the SW wind cleans up the increasing E/NE swell perfectly.