Wednesday
Weather
A strengthening but also a warming SSE’ly breeze will affect the Islands today. This comes on the outer fringes of a really intense low-pressure system, which will go on to give Ireland and Scotland an utter battering in the afternoon and evening. We are getting off extremely lightly with our force 4-5 wind. Not only that, but the heavy rain will be reserved for northwest Britain too, leaving us with some beautifully textured clouds and only a few spits and spots of rain through second half of the day. Daytime max 20-21°C, overnight min 15-16°C.
Surf and the Water
The surf will be about 4 feet at dawn, dropping to 2-3 feet by lunchtime and then cranking back up to 4 feet again by dusk. Most of it will be clean as a whistle, it will only be slightly choppy for an hour or so towards dusk. Windsurfing conditions will be a bit better than of late, but swimming conditions not so great… best to head to the north cost in the late afternoon for that. Low water will be at midday, then high water will be at 6pm (roughly 9m).
Thursday and Friday
Weather
It’s the potentially stormy overnight period that really links these two days together. Daytime Thursday is looking warm and dry, with a force 4 S’ly breeze, and daytime Friday is looking similarly fine and dry but with a cooler WNW’ly breeze. Max temps 19-20°C on Thursday, followed by 17-18°C on Friday. The inbetween bit, from around dusk on Thursday until around dawn on Friday, will see some pretty heavy downpours, as a small low-pressure system passes across the area. The most uncertain element of the forecast at that point is the wind, because it might just be fresh force 5 at its strongest or it might be as nasty as strong force 7. The wisest approach would be to hope for the best and prepare for the worst, so it would be a good idea to put away any loose items that are lying around your garden on Thursday.
Surf and the Water
Whopping great waves through Thursday… 8-10 feet in the morning, dropping to 6 feet by dusk. Then Friday’s waves will continue to decline… 5-6 feet at dawn, dropping to 4 feet by dusk. Thursday will not only be impressively large but it will also be super clean. Friday will be very choppy along the west coast, but there might be some cleanish little waves to play with along the south coast. High tides will be shortly after dawn and dusk (increasing from 9m on Thursday to 10m on Friday evening). Low tides will be at lunchtime.
The Weekend
Weather
A weekend of two halves… although none of the weather is looking remotely severe, there is no denying that Saturday is looking much much nicer than Sunday. After a possibly cloudy start, the rest of Saturday should be lovely and sunny, with force 2-3 SE’ly breezes taking the temperature up to 20-21°C. Sunday’s temperature won’t be much different to that, maybe just a degree lower, but the wind will be force 3-4 SW’ly, skies will be cloudy and there will probably be a spell of light rain around late morning or lunchtime.
Surf and the Water
Super-clean 3-4 foot surf through Saturday, then semi-clean 1-3 foot surf through Sunday. Swimming conditions should be lovely all round. Big tides mean stronger currents though, so take extra care for that. High tides will be around breakfast time (roughly 10m) and low tides will be in the mid-afternoons.
Next Week
Weather
Monday to Wednesday should be calm and settled, with light breezes from a variety of directions. Then Thursday and Friday are looking slightly less settled, as a moderate SW’ly becomes established, bringing the odd brief shower or perhaps some longer spells of rain. Skies will be mostly cloudy throughout, so the temperature will never be particularly high or low, but it should always be comfortable… typically peaking at 18-19°C each day, then falling to around 14 °C each night.
Surf and the Water
The tidal movements will shrink day by day, with the first high of Monday being nearly 10m and the second high of Friday being slightly less than 7m. The surf doesn’t look as though it will be as big as this week, but we should maintain around 2-3 feet throughout, and the conditions should be nice and clean for the majority of the time. Likewise the water should be mostly smooth for swimmers, but there will always be some sheltered nooks during the windier moments.
The next forecast update will be on Friday evening…
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