Praia do Silveira • Statistics for January

January: Summer Trade Swell and Scarce Offshore Windows

January at Praia do Silveira is a classic South Atlantic summer pattern. The South Atlantic high is strong and positioned to pump ENE/E/ESE trade swell into the coast, with E swell (27.4 percent) and ESE swell (24.4 percent) leading the spectrum. Combined with ENE (20.0 percent) and SE (14.8 percent), nearly 87 percent of the swell comes from the optimal directions-but the problem is the wind. NNE winds dominate 20.5 percent of the time and NE adds another 13.6 percent, putting a windblown, cross/onshore texture on the waves. True offshore westerly winds are rare, so the 22 percent 'ideal' window is usually confined to dawn patrol before the seabreeze kicks in. Average swell height sits at 1.2m (4ft) with a period of 8.0s, which puts most waves in the fun, punchy range with occasional 1.5-2m (5-6ft) sets from ESE. Air temps average 23.7°C, water temperature is 25.5°C, and with 6.92mm/day of precipitation, mornings can be sticky and humid. It is surfable, but only just-pick your tides and look for an early ESE pulse before the trades chop it up.