Las Gatas • Statistics for February

February: Consistent SW Groundswell and Shifting Winds

February maintains the winter program with an average swell height of 1.1m (3.6ft) and a long-period 13.4s. The energy is even more concentrated in the SW half of the compass: SSW accounts for 20.3% and SW 56.1%, while WSW chips in 20.9%. The result is a powerful, orderly ocean where the 0.5-1m (1.6-3.3ft) and 1-1.5m (3.3-4.9ft) bands dominate, but slightly more 1.5-2m (4.9-6.6ft) pulses appear than in January. Because this is long-period groundswell, it wraps into the bay with real push, setting up clean walls along the reef.

Winds are more challenging than January. NNW and NW remain prominent (15.5% and 16.2%), and westerly components (WNW 14.0%, W 13.6%, WSW 10.2%) add up to frequent onshore texture. The number of ideal, offshore wind hours drops to 17%, so look for the early morning and any late-day lulls. Water temperature remains warm at 27.8°C, air temperatures average 24.8°C, and February is very dry with only 0.37mm/day of precipitation - the ocean is glassy at dawn more often than the percentage suggests if you are willing to be an early riser.