Pontinha Wind Stats

The figure illustrates how frequently and how strongly the wind blows from different directions over a normal June. The longest spokes point in the directions the wind most commonly blows from and the shade of blue indicates the strength, with dark blue strongest. It is based on 3506 NWW3 forecasts of wind since since 2006, at 3hr intervals, for the closest NWW3 model node to Pontinha, located 8 km away (5 miles). There are not enough recording stations world wide to use actual wind data. Invevitably some coastal places have very localized wind effects that would not be predicted by NWW3. According to the model, the prevailing wind at Pontinha 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 Pontinha. On the other hand, dominant spokes show favoured directions, and the more dark blue, the stronger the wind. Spokes point in the direction the wind blows from. During a typical June, the model suggests that winds are light enough for the sea to be glassy (the lightest shade of blue) about 7% of the time (2 days each June) and blows offshore 9% of the time (2 days in an average June). Over an average June winds exceeding >40kph (25mph) are not expected, but 4 have winds on the range 30-40 (19-25) at Pontinha

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