Wind Statistics
TRADE WINDS
The NE trade winds blow throughout the year, although they tend to move up & down the Atlantic. In summer, which is our windy period, the trades can start to blow as early as March and as late as May. Contrary to popular belief the trade winds are not strong winds; only about 3 Bft. on the open sea.
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WIND ACCELERATION
However around Lanzarote we have acceleration zones where the wind is either funnelled between mountains, or islands and where the wind can sometimes increase to as much as 8 - 9 Bft.
The Kitesurfing center in Famara is lucky enough to be situated in one of these wind acceleration zones. The trades can blow right the way through to the middle of September when they tend to move further south, which is why the Cape Verde islands are best in winter. (Dec/Jan/Feb).
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SUMMER
The summer winds are controlled by having High pressure sitting over the Azores (Azores High) and a Low over the Sahara (Sahara Low). The Low is formed by hot air rising and this pulls in the relatively cold air from the High pressure. The High pressure can be very stable and it is not uncommon for it to extend right across the Atlantic from Portugal to Florida.
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WINTER
In winter the whole picture changes. We now have small Low pressure systems coming out off the North American High (cold stable air), on to the coast off N. Foundland these come down to about 35°N and travel eastwards accross the Atlantic, all the time getting deeper + stronger. They bring the bad weather to Europe and the British Isles, and it is from these Low pressure systems that we have our waves in the winter. Occasionally one ventures further south than usual and clips the islands, giving us insane windsurfing conditions as well as creating havoc in most of the harbours in the Canaries. The wind tends to be 7- 8 sometimes 9 Bft. and blows from a south - southwest direction. It lasts 2 - 4 days and gives us the chance to windsurf locations which normally only a handfull of time during the winter period.
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SIROCCO
One other wind phenomenon which deserves a mention is the Sirocco. This is a hot dry wind straight off the Sahara desert some 65miles away. This is either onshore or cross -onshore from the right. It can be strong or light and normally lasts anything from 2 - 10 days.
As you can see, winter wind is very unpredictable and we only have an avg. of 2 - 3 days/wk of wind. Waves, however, are far more common so if you're coming over to Lanzarote in winter why not book yourself onto one of our Kitesurfing & Surfing multi-adventure holidays. That way you will always be in the water either kitesurfing or surfing.
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WAVE, SWELL AND WIND PREDICTION Resources on the web
Below you'll find some of the best wind and wave resources on the net. If you know of any others that should be here please let us know.
WINDGURU
Spain - Canary Islands - Lanzarote - Costa Teguise
Comprehensive wind info on windsurfing spots around the world.
The Windguru website provides the following info:
• Wind speed (knots)
• Wind direction
• Wave (m)
• Wave period (s)
• Wave direction
• Temperature (°C)
• Cloud cover (%)
• Rain (mm/3h)
• Windguru spot rating
• + An archive of stats (at the bottom right hand corner of the page there is a “archive” tab click on that to see access specific wind strength data for other months/years)
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