Birling Gap Wind Stats

The rose diagram describes how frequently and how strongly the wind blows from different directions through a typical June. The largest spokes point in the directions the wind most commonly blows from and the shade of blue implies the strength, with the darkest shade of blue strongest. It is based on 3502 NWW3 forecasts of wind since since 2006, at 3hr intervals, for the closest NWW3 model node to Birling Gap, located 31 km away (19 miles). There are insufficient recording stations world wide to use actual wind data. Without question some coastal places have very localized wind effects that would not be predicted by NWW3. According to the model, the most common wind at Birling Gap blows from the WSW. If the rose graph shows a fairly circular pattern, it means there is no strong bias in wind direction at Birling Gap. On the other hand, dominant spokes represent favoured directions, and the more dark blue, the stronger the wind. Spokes point in the direction the wind blows from. Over an average June, the model suggests that winds are light enough for the sea to be glassy (light blue) about 9% of the time (3 days each June) and blows offshore 16% of the time (0 days in an average June). During a typical June winds stronger than >40kph (25mph) are expected on 2 days at Birling Gap

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