Minutes • Statistics for January

January: Midwinter Power and Northwest Groomers

January is a serious month at Minutes. Average surf heights run at 1.7m (5.6ft) with an average period of 8.7s, putting most waves in the punchy, rideable 6-9s band. The North Atlantic is generating a steady stream of extratropical cyclones, and although the open-ocean swell distribution is dominated by the S/SSW/SW quadrant, the east-facing point still collects roughly 15% of its energy from the preferred ENE/E/ESE/SE window. Those are the waves that really make this break work, often arriving as clean groundswell pulses during Nor'easter-type setups.

Wind is a big ally this month. Offshore flow from WSW/W/WNW/NW accounts for nearly half the wind distribution, with WNW the most common clean direction, and the summary call is 52% ideal wind for surfing. That can produce glassy morning conditions between cold fronts and high-pressure passages. The trade-off is winter: water temperature is a frigid 2.8°C, air temps average -1.7°C, and precipitation is frequent at 3.09 mm/day. It is cold, raw and rewarding when it lines up.