Santa Maria - Anjos Wind Statistics, December averages since 2006
The graph illustrates how commonly and how strongly the wind blows from different directions over a normal December. The largest spokes point in the directions the wind most commonly blows from and the shade of blue implies the strength, with deep blue strongest. It is based on 1961 NWW3 forecasts of wind since since 2006, at 3hr intervals, for the closest NWW3 model node to Santa Maria - Anjos, located 14 km away (9 miles). There are too few recording stations world wide to use actual wind data. No doubt some coastal places have very localized wind effects that would not be predicted by NWW3.
According to the model, the dominant wind at Santa Maria - Anjos blows from the NW. If the rose diagram shows a close to circular outline, it means there is no strong bias in wind direction at Santa Maria - Anjos. Converseley, dominant spokes illustrate favoured directions, and the more deep blue, the stronger the wind. Spokes point in the direction the wind blows from. During a typical December, the model suggests that winds are light enough for the sea to be glassy (the lightest shade of blue) about 5% of the time (2 days each December) and blows offshore 22% of the time (7 days in an average December). Over an average December winds stronger than >40kph (25mph) are expected on 4 days at Santa Maria - Anjos
IMPORTANT: Beta version feature! Swell heights are open water values from NWW3. There is no attempt to model near-shore effects. Coastal wave heights will generally be less, especially if the break does not have unobstructed exposure to the open ocean.