Guernsey Weather Fox

Saturday

Weather

A gorgeous day of crisp winter sunshine and just a few wisps and puffs of cloud. The wind will be SSE’ly, a different direction from Friday and a bit stronger too, mostly moderate force 4 by day and fresh force 5 by night, meaning that it will feel even colder than the temperature implies (5-6°C by day and 2-3°C by night), so hats, gloves and scarfs will still be pretty essential to feel comfortable.

Surf and the Water

The surf will most probably be as flat as Friday, but there’s a possibility of some rideable waves for longboarders, given that we have an absolutely tiny but very long-period swell. If the odd set is big enough to ride then it will be gorgeously clean and the tides will be nice and small, giving a large window of opportunity during the middle part of the day (same goes for our winter swimmers). High water will be roughly 7m at 12:30pm.

Sunday and Monday

Sunday will start off as frigid as Saturday, but the S’ly wind will step up to strong force 6 around dawn and then it will just pump increasingly moist and mild air over the islands. First of all (around breakfast time) we might have some brief sleet but it will quickly turn to steady rain, then as the temperature rises, the cloud will lower, and eventually turn the rain to drizzle and mist. There will likely be some dry intervals in the evening and overnight but it will never be long before the next dose of rain or drizzle comes along. Then it’s no change for Monday, still that strong force 6 to 7 S’ly wind, a steady temperature of around 12°C, with rain, drizzle and mist fluctuating but never really going away until sometime after dusk.

Surf and the Water

These two days will see the onset of some small but super-clean surf… Sunday’s waves gradually increasing from 1 foot to 2 feet (hopefully), then Monday’s waves holding around 3 feet for most of the day, but with the odd 4 foot set likely later. Tides will be low around dawn and high at 1:40pm (7.2m) and 2:50pm (7.5m) respectively.

The Rest of Next Week

Weather

There has been a little uncertainty as to whether we will stick with the mild and unsettled picture or revert to the calmer colder scenario. However, computer models seem to be consistently predicting that it will stay mild at least until the weekend, with moderate or fresh SW’ly winds for the vast majority of the time, bringing a typical mix of damp dreary and drizzly episodes, interspersed with drier brighter days with only the odd brief shower. Daily maxima should be around 10-12°C (pretty close to the sea temperature) and nightly minima should be around 8-10°C, meaning that ground frost will be extremely unlikely.

Surf and the Water

Bigger surf but not quite as clean as the previous days. Plenty of opportunities for fun though, and it certainly will be nice to feel a bit warmer than the previous week. Wave heights will generally be around 8 feet on the west coast, sometimes even bigger, so there is a chance that the north coast will also provide some waves (much smaller yes, but also quite a lot cleaner). Tides will be low in the late mornings and high around dusk, increasing from around 8m on Tuesday to around 9m on Friday.