San Pancho • Statistics for January

January: Deep-Winter W-WNW Groundswell, Shifty Winds

January is the heart of San Pancho's swell season. The dominant swell directions are WNW (55.9%) and W (32.2%), with NW adding another 4.7%, meaning roughly 93% of the wave energy arrives from the favourable western quadrant. The average swell height sits at 1.0m (about 3ft) and the average period is a powerful 13.6s, so when the swell lines do wrap in, they offer real push and shape - often in the clean 1-1.5m (3-5ft) range. The main issue is wind. Only 8% of the time are conditions ideal, because NNW winds dominate with 50.8% of the distribution and NW/N winds add another 26.4%. This keeps the surface lumpy and onshore much of the time. But on the days when a high-pressure ridge sets up a light offshore flow from the SW/SSW quadrant, the beach lights up with long, cranking W-WNW groundswell. Air temperatures average 23.8°C, water temps are 25.0°C, and precipitation is low at 0.89 mm/day, so the main wildcard is wind, not weather.