Conditions at Pedrogao in January
January: Deep-Winter Groundswell Machine
January is the heart of the European winter and Pedrogão feels every pulse of the storm track. The average wave height is a solid 8ft (2.4m) with a long 13.1s period, putting it firmly in the powerful long-period category. Swell direction is dominated by the northwest quadrant: WNW supplies 24.8% of observations and NW 21.6%, with W adding 6.4%, WSW 1.8%, and NNW 6.3%. That means the beach is almost constantly receiving open-ocean groundswell, and a significant share of the waves sit in the 5-8ft (1.5-2.5m) range, with occasional pulses over 8ft (2.5m). The wind is ideal 34% of the time, tied for the best month of the year, as Atlantic high pressure builds between storms and delivers offshore east-to-southeast flow. When conditions align, the beach has clean, grinding, long-period lines. Air temperatures average 9.7°C (range -2.3 to 20.2°C) with 3.43 mm/day of precipitation, and water temperature is 14.1°C, so break out the 5/4 hooded wetsuit.
Average Spot conditions at Pedrogao in January
Swell history for January
Wind history for January
Swell quality
Analyze the groundswell consistency at Pedrogao during January. Based on historical data, there is a % probability of groundswell occurring this month. The chart below provides a detailed breakdown of the average wave height distribution, offering deep insights into the swell quality and surf potential you can expect at Pedrogao for your next trip in January.
Ground swell
Ground swell by size
Wind conditions
Evaluate the wind and swell alignment at Pedrogao for January. Our analysis shows that favorable offshore or side-shore winds coincide with surfable swell approximately % of the time. The accompanying graph illustrates the average size distribution of waves during these optimal wind windows at Pedrogao.