Conditions at Pipe in December
December: Midsummer Lull with Occasional Bangs
December completes the return to summer. Average swell height is 2.0m (6-7ft), period is the shortest of the year at 10.7s, and ideal wind is 25%. Air temperatures are warm at 20.8°C (14.1-36.5°C), water 19.6°C, and rainfall is 1.24 mm/day. Swell again comes mostly from SSW (29.1%), SW (18.1%) and S (14.6%), with a secondary ESE (7.8%)/SSE (7.9%)/SE (6.9%) spread. The E sector is slightly more present than in winter but still short-period and largely wind-driven. Winds are led by E (16.6%) and ESE (10.7%), which put a lot of summer chop on the ocean; WSW (15.6%), SW (12.6%), W (6.8%) and SSW (6.7%) are the necessary offshore wind windows. For the holiday surfer, December is generally a fun, manageable month with clean waves whenever the S/SW groundswell meets an offshore morning. True Pipe power is still a handful of months away.
Average Spot conditions at Pipe in December
Swell history for December
Wind history for December
Swell quality
Analyze the groundswell consistency at Pipe during December. 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 Pipe for your next trip in December.
Ground swell
Ground swell by size
Wind conditions
Evaluate the wind and swell alignment at Pipe for December. 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 Pipe.