Figueira da Foz - Gala Swell Statistics, All Year: All Swell – Any Wind
This chart shows the combination of swells directed at Figueira da Foz - Gala through a typical year and is based upon 26876 NWW3 model predictions since 2006 (values every 3 hours). The wave model does not forecast wind or surf right at the coastline so we have chosen the optimum grid node based on what we know about Figueira da Foz - Gala. In the case of Figueira da Foz - Gala, the best grid node is 18 km away (11 miles).
The rose diagram describes the distribution of swell directions and swell sizes, while the graph at the bottom shows the same thing but without direction information. Five colours illustrate increasing wave sizes. Blue shows the smallest swells, less that 0.5m (1.5 feet) high. These occurred only 10% of the time. Green and yellow illustrate increasing swell sizes and red shows the biggest swells, greater than >3m (>10ft). In either graph, the area of any colour is proportional to how often that size swell occurs.
The diagram indicates that the most common swell direction, shown by the largest spokes, was WNW, whereas the the prevailing wind blows from the NNW. Because the wave model grid is away from the coast, sometimes a strong offshore wind blows largest waves away from Figueira da Foz - Gala and out to sea. We combine these with the no surf category of the bar chart. To avoid confusion we don't show these in the rose plot. Because wind determines whether or not waves are clean enough to surf at Figueira da Foz - Gala, you can load a different image that shows only the swells that were forecast to coincide with glassy or offshore wind conditions. Over an average year, swells large enough to cause surfable waves at Figueira da Foz - Gala run for about 90% of the time.
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.