Wasaga Beach • Statistics for March

March: Spring Thaw, Choppy Transition

March remains locked in the winter storm track, but the energy begins to fade. Average wave heights drop to 0.5m (1.5ft) and the average period slackens to 3.6s. The swell direction still favors the NW quadrant - NNW leads the pack at 18%, followed by NW at 14.6% and WNW at 11.8% - so the lake continues to produce short-period windswell through the month. Most heights are below 0.5m (1.5ft), but there are still occasional 1.5-2m (5-6.5ft) waves from the NW/NNW direction during the strongest cold fronts. The problem is that these are almost always accompanied by onshore winds.

Onshore W/WNW/NW/NNW flow accounts for nearly half of the monthly wind distribution, while ideal surfing conditions drop to 0%. Offshore E/ESE/SE/SSE winds are present 21% of the time, but they are too light and the swell is too small to produce anything of consequence. Air temperatures average -1.9°C, precipitation runs around 1.42 mm/day, and water temps remain frigid at 1-2°C (34-36°F). March is a fall-in-between month: too much windswell for clean small days, too little wave power for proper winter storm surf.