Thursday
Weather
This is the only definitely wet and windy day in this forecast period. Starting with a cold front passing southwards around dawn, giving us some briefly heavy rain around dawn. At this time, between about 6 and 7am, the wind will change from a strong force 6 SW’ly to a similarly strong WNW’ly. This will put some very chilly air over the islands for the rest of the day. Yes there will be some lengthy spells of sunshine, but there will also be the odd gusty shower, perhaps even with a bit of hail in the mix. The max temp for the day will be about 9°C at dawn, but you might as well forget about that, because it probably won’t climb any higher than 7°C after that cold front has swept through. Furthermore, the wind-chill effect will make it feel as though it’s only 3°C.
Surf and the Water
Apart from the slim possibility of some semi-clean lumpy waves on the south-coast, I can’t think of anything to recommend to surfers. Best to leave this day to the windsurfers (who will probably love it). As for the swimmers, ooft you’re going to need your robes and your bobble hats for sure, but you should at least find some smooth water at Fermain around high tide (7.4m at 11:39am).
Friday
Weather
There might just be one last shower or two around dawn, but even this is highly doubtful, meaning that we are simply looking at a dry and sunny day. If that doesn’t already sound amazing then let me tell you about the wind, because that will be getting lighter and lighter, starting the day with a moderate force 4 NW’ly and finishing off light force 2 and variable in direction. Sunset should be absolutely lovely, but the temperature will drop like a stone overnight… plummeting from the 10°C max to the 4°C min, with grass frost forming in many areas.
Surf and the Water
Very small tide movements on this day, with a high of roughly 6.9m at 1pm. That’s great news for surfers, but it will probably be best to wait until after that tide has passed, in order to catch the cleanest waves in the lightest winds… roughly 8 feet on the west coast, maybe 4 feet on the south and the north.
The Weekend
Weather
The wind will be SSE’ly, mostly moderate F4 but every now and then it might slip up to fresh F5. Apart from the perkiness of the breeze, it’s a pretty perfect story of sunshine by day and starlight by night. There will probably be some wispy high cloud around, so that sunshine could be a bit hazy and the starlight a bit twinkly, but the sunsets should be gorgeously colourful. Max temps around 10°C in the early afternoons and the west coast feeling most lovely of all (especially with the small high tides). Minimum overnight temps around 5-6°C.
Surf and the Water
Two classic west-coast surf days, with clean 3-4 foot waves on Saturday, then 4-6 feet on Sunday. The west coast will also be good for swimming, likewise the north, and it will definitely be best to shoot for high tide, when the sea walls/dunes will give a little shelter from the offshore breeze. Those high tides will be 6.8m at 2:45pm on Saturday, then 7.3m at 4:12pm on Sunday.
Next Week
Weather
After the brief bliss of a settled weekend, it has been a bit questionable whether we would revert back to grotty weather again. However, it is now looking increasingly likely that we will maintain the settled weather at least through Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, thus placing the question mark over Thursday and Friday now. The first half of the week will be sunny with moderate SE’ly breezes… daytime maxima will be around 10-11°C, nightly minima around 5-6°C. This does mean that, come Thursday and Friday, any weather fronts that approach from the Atlantic will have a bit of a fight on their hands, so there’s a very good chance that we will score a fully fine working week.
Surf and the Water
Another amazing week for surfing and swimming (albeit a bit chilly)… clean as a whistle every day and varying between about 3 feet and 6 feet. The tides will be medium-sized at the start of the week, becoming big and springy for the second half of the week.
The next forecast update will be on Friday evening…
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