Guernsey Weather Fox

Monday and Tuesday

Temperatures won’t be quite as high as at the weekend (peaking around 9-10°C each day) but it should feel really pleasant because winds will be light as a feather and the weather will be bone dry. Skies will be partly cloudy (perhaps a little misty on Tuesday) and there should also be a decent amount of brightness or sunshine breaking through at times. Although very light, the direction of the breeze will change from WSW’ly on Monday to ESE’ly on Tuesday. This means that the best of the brightness should be along the east coast on Monday and along the west coast on Tuesday, so the temperature in those areas might easily rise a degree higher than expected by day. During the night time, it will probably be too cloudy for the air temperature to fall as low as 5°C, but there is a chance of it, and if that is the case then growers should be aware that we might just see a brief ground frost in places.

Surf and the Water

The surf will be fairly clean on Monday (similar to Sunday) and then immaculately clean on Tuesday. West-coast wave heights will be 3-4 feet both days. The winds generally light enough that all coasts will benefit from suitably smooth water for swimmers. Big tides, with highs just a little under 9.5m on Monday and a little under 10m on Tuesday (around dawn and after dusk). Low tides will be at lunchtime.

Wednesday

Weather

Hump day will stand alone with its weather characteristics this week, suitably dividing the milder part of the week from the cooler. This will be due to a cold front crossing the area, giving a spell of rain in the morning, whilst the W’ly wind blows force 4 to 5. The afternoon should be dry and increasingly bright though, as the wind maintains its strength but veers to a NW’ly direction. The max temp on this day just 8-9°C and feeling decidedly chillier than the previous days.

Surf and the Water

Messy surf, starting around 3-4 feet and picking up to maybe 5 or 6 feet. Not a bad day for windsurfring, considering how few opportunities there have been lately. As for swimming, definitely best to stay on the east coast, or maybe to go to the south coast during the afternoon. High tide will be slightly over 10m around 8am (that’s going to be a bit of a splashy one, along the west coast road). Low tide will be around 2:£0pm.

Thursday and Friday

Weather

Temperatures will peak at just 7-8°C on each of these days, but the force 4 to 5 NNE’ly wind will make it feel as if it’s a few degrees colder than that, so the hats gloves and scarves will definitely be back in force. Will you need your rain coat though? Well, on the whole, the answer is no, but there will be a couple of showers rattling around the Channel so there is the chance of a brief splash every now and then. Skies will be sunny at times, but you will really need to be in a sheltered location, such as along the south coast cliff paths, in order to feel comfortable.

Surf and the Water

Wave heights will fall off a cliff, starting Thursday at 4-5 feet, but only finishing the day at 2-3 feet and then dropping to just 1 foot on Friday. Furthermore, the cross-shore wind will make the surf very poor in quality. However, our hardy winter sea swimmer should still manage to get in, and the best places for that will be the south-coast beaches. High tides will be at breakfast, just a little under 10m on Thursday and roughly 9.5m on Friday.

The Weekend

Weather

The fresh NE’ly airflow will continue to bring a mix of cloudy skies and sunny intervals, with the chance of catching one or two brief showers. Temperatures will stay on the low side, with daily maxima of just 7-8°C and the wind making it feel even chillier than that. Just head on down to those south-coast cliff paths if you want a more comfortable outing.

Surf and the Water

The surf will stay small (1-2 feet at best), but the cross-shore wind will probably make a right old mess of it anyway. If you are swimming then best to stick to the south coast, especially during the morning, when the tide is high… roughly 8.8m around 10am Saturday, then roughly 8m around 10:30am Sunday.