Thursday
Weather
The wind will gradually change from a fresh force 5 SW’ly to a strong force 6 to 7 S’ly, whilst we enjoy a dry and partially sunny morning. Thick cloud and rain will arrive around lunchtime (possibly slightly earlier, possibly slightly later), and then it will carry on until late afternoon, with a few heavy bursts thrown in for good measure. When that rain clears off, the wind will veer WSW’ly and then spend the night gradually decreasing to fresh 5, or possibly moderate force 4. Max temp 12-13°C, min temp, 8-9°C.
Surf and the Water
Thursday is looking insane because the waves will be enormous again, almost as big as on Tuesday. However, the wind will be offshore on both the north and the west coast. That wind will be very difficult to manage though because it will be so strong. Good luck finding somewhere sheltered enough for a simple epic session. Heavy boards are the way forward (double 12oz volan). Tides will be big very large again (roughly 9.4m high around 6:20am and 6:40pm). Both tides will be very splashy along the west coast roads, but the morning tide will also be quite messy along the east coast road.
Friday
Weather
From a distance, this did look like the most likely day of the week to be dry and relatively settled, but it was difficult to trust the detail back then. However, now that it is within the realm of short range forecasting, I feel much more confident to say ‘yes, yes, yes! go outside and make the most of this day’ because it really is looking like a vast improvement on the previous days. The wind will be a moderate force 4 WNW’ly, so it won’t be blissfully calm, but it will be light enough that you can really enjoy the lengthy spells of sunshine and the absence of impending showers. Who knows?!… You might even manage to dry the laundry on the washing line. Max temp 12-13°C, min temp, 8-9°C.
Surf and the Water
The surf will be almost as huge as on Thursday, but the onshore wind will make most places rather messy. Swimmers will definitely find their best conditions the east coast. Over on the west coast will have some tidal issues for sure, with a predicted high of 9.5m around 7am, but the evening tide should be a little calmer, thanks to slightly less swell and slightly gentler winds.
Saturday
Weather
Although rather cloudy, it should stay nice and dry until at least mid-afternoon, possibly until sunset, so we are looking at another relatively good day compared to the recent roughness. That said, the S’ly wind will still be rather brisk, blowing force 4 to 5 in the morning, picking up to force 6 in the afternoon, and then probably reaching force 7 in the evening when the rain sets in good and proper. Max daytime temp 14°C, min temp overnight 12°C.
Surf and the Water
Super-clean 6 foot waves in the morning, dropping off to 4 or 5 feet by the end of the day. Some really classic surf conditions on the west coast, but with the tides still massive (around 9.4m on the breakfast-time high), so it will be a bit tricky to find the perfect conditions and to maintain them for more than half an hour or so. As for the smoothest swimming conditions, the north coast will be best for that.
Sunday
Weather
On the negative side, it will be cloudy all day with patchy rain and drizzle coming and going. However, on the positive side, the wind will be very light, just a force 3 W’ly, so it will feel very comfortable when you’re out and about. Once again, we are looking at a mild max 14°C,, a little cooler overnight though, with a min of 9-10°C.
Surf and the Water
Another great day of surf, with waves staying around 4-6 feet. The wind won’t be so perfectly offshore but it will be so light that the waves will be almost as clean as on Saturday. High tide will be about 9.2m at 8:30am.
Next Week
Weather
The first half of the week will have light winds from a variety of directions, then the second half of the week will have a moderate E’ly flow. This is all likely to lead to a downward temperature trend. Nothing too dramatic, but probably only getting up to 10 or 11°C for the daily maxima and possibly getting as low as 5°C in the night time. If skies are clear then this might mean that we get our first ground frost of the season, so growers might want to prepare for that. As for the question of rainfall, it certainly doesn’t look as though it will be as wet as this week, but there will probably be showers over the Channel every day, so we are bound to catch a few of them.
Surf and the Water
The surf will certainly be nice and clean, probably ranging between 3 feet on the smallest days and 6 feet on the biggest. The tides will become much smaller too, which is generally great news for surfing, because there will be far more options available during the very limited daylight hours. High water will be 8.8m mid-morning on Monday. Then, through the week, the highs will gradually get smaller and later, until it’s just 7.3m in the early afternoon on Friday.
The next forecast update will be on Friday evening…
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