Pleasure Point • Statistics for October

October: The Pacific Wakes Up

October is when the North Pacific roars back to life and Pleasure Point starts to feel like itself again. Average swell height climbs to 5.6ft (1.7m), and the period jumps to 12.4s, a clear response to the first strong extratropical storms forming across the Pacific. The swell window is still W/WNW-dominated, with WNW 56.4 percent and W 21.3 percent, but WSW energy increases to 7.0 percent and the distribution tilts firmly into the pumping 5-8ft (1.5-2.5m) category. The chance of overhead, powerful waves returns, especially when a low-pressure system tracks far enough south to aim energy into the California coast.

Winds are still mostly favorable, with ideal offshore flow at 84 percent; NNW, NW and WNW combine for over 55 percent of all wind observations. Rain increases slightly to 0.86 mm/day, air temperatures cool to 15.9°C, and water temperature remains comfortable at 13.5°C. October is arguably the best shoulder month of the year: winter power on the rise, autumn winds still mostly clean, and the crowds still in summer mode.