Thursday
Weather
What a shame… on previous forecasts, this was looking like a brief oasis of calm, in the midst of this particularly unsettled period. However, our hopes have been dashed as we are now set for a showery day, with those showers merging into a spell of persistent rain and drizzle around lunchtime and then another one (quite a lot heavier) in the evening. Max temp 11°C (relatively mild). The wind will be a force 4-5 SW’ly through the day (I suppose that is a tad quieter than other days) and then it will pick up to a force 6-7 NW’ly through the night.
Surf and the Water
The huge storm Barra swell will still be with us to some extent, and we will be blessed with relatively clean west-coast waves (5-8 feet) through the late-morning and the afternoon. High water will be about 8.6m at 10am and low water will be around dusk.
Friday
Weather
Quite a lot of dry time on this day, because the bright or sunny spells will be very long and the squally showers of rain or hail will be very brief and very few. The wind will be the spoiler, because we will maintain the force 6-7 NW’ly that initiated on Thursday night, and this is going to add a big wind-chill effect to an already pathetic max temp of 9°C. If you want to salvage a semi comfortable walk somewhere, the locations of choice will certainly be around Fermain or along the south coast cliffs paths.
Surf and the Water
The west-coast will be fantastic for windsurfing but it will be very messy for surfers. If we are lucky however, the south coast might offer some 4-6 foot gems. High water will be about 8m at 11am and low water will be about an hour after dusk.
The Weekend
Weather
Two fully murky days, drizzle coming and going, along with lots of mist and hill-fog. I’m sure if you have been planning to fly in and/or out then you are already getting worried about this. Well yes, no doubt there will be quite a few delays, some more major than others, but usually in these situations the visibility does fluctuate between mist and fog, so hopefully cancelations will be minimal. For those who have no interest in flying, I can tell you that we will have a force 4-5 SW’ly wind through both days, with a max temp of 12°C on Saturday and 13°C on Sunday. If you’re going for a walk then sheltered spots will be mild and comfortable enough that you can definitely lose the hats and gloves and, drizzle-permitting, you might even be able to go without a jacket.
Surf and the Water
The west-coast surf will be semi-clean on Saturday and very clean on Sunday (if you can see it through the murk). Wave heights will be a bit up and down, as one swell fades and another arrives. Best estimate at this stage are that Saturday will start off at 6 feet and finish up at 3 feet. Then Sunday will start off at 3 feet and finish off at 8-10 feet. Smaller tides again, with highs of around 7.5m at lunchtime.
Next Week
Weather
I’m going to be really brave and stick my neck out here… Yes, it looks as though this awful spell of weather will finally come to an end, as high pressure builds over the area. First of all the high will be centred to the west, giving us slightly lighter and drier WSW’ly winds on Monday and Tuesday. This means that the weekend’s murky conditions might carry on to some extent, but we should be dry from the get-go and the visibility should also improve, although that will probably be a slower process. Then, on Wednesday, with the high almost directly overhead, we should start to see a decent amount of sunshine and the winds will be very light indeed (perhaps a bit frosty but generally lovely). Finally, on Thursday and Friday, the high is set to move into Europe, giving us an ESE’ly flow… very dry, very sunny and no doubt quite frost overnight and into the mornings.
Surf and the Water
You can pack your kites and sail-boards away for the week, but it will definitely be a good week make the most of your surfboards and bodyboards. The waves will be semi-clean on Monday and Tuesday and then really clean on subsequent days. As for the west-coast wave-heights, we are probably looking at 5-6 feet on Monday and Tuesday, dropping off to 3-4 feet on the subsequent days. Medium-sized tides… starting off with a high of around 7.3m early Monday afternoon, gradually picking up through the week until we have a high of about 8.2m on Friday evening.
The next forecast update will be on Friday evening…
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