Guernsey Weather Fox

Saturday

Weather

Storm Darragh will already be howling before the sun is up, and squally showers will add to the noise as they hammer against the windows. The direction of the gales/severe gales will be NW’ly through the daytime, veering N’ly overnight, which will mean that trees are more vulnerable to damage than they are from the usual southwestern quarter of the compass. The strongest gusts are likely to be around 75mph, which means that both sea travel and air travel will be heavily disrupted, and extreme care should be taken when traveling on the roads too. Temperatures will hover around 10°C by day and around 8°C by night.

Surf and the Water

Enormous surf, around 20 feet on the exposed reefs. Potentially clean on the south coast but with a ridiculously strong offshore wind. Tides will be high at 10:15am (8.1m) and low at 4:40pm.

Sunday

Weather

There will be very little respite… N’ly strong force 7 to gale force 8 through the majority of the day, along with further showers coming and going. Despite one or two sunny intervals, the air will be inherently cool, so we will probably climb no higher than 8°C by day and then fall to 6°C by night. If hunkering down is not your thing and you are suffering from a bit of cabin fever, then the south coast will be the best bet for a relatively sheltered outing.

Surf and the Water

Slightly less enormous surf on this day, around 10 feet on the exposed reefs. Extremely clean on the south coast and possibly a little more manageable on this occasion. Tides will be high at 11:15am (7.7m) and low at 5:45pm.

Monday and Tuesday

Weather

Mostly cloudy, showery and feeling cold, but at least the wind will ease significantly… strong force 6 NNE’ly on Monday and then fresh force 5 NE’ly on Tuesday. Once again the south coast will be most sheltered, so that would be the destination for a relatively comfortable outing. Temperatures peaking at around 8°C (maybe 9°C if we are lucky), then falling to about 6°C by night.

Surf and the Water

The surf will be much smaller (about 3 feet on the west coast)… still very choppy on Monday, slightly cleaner on Tuesday but still too difficult to justify a huge amount of effort. Windsurfers and kitesurfers might enjoy themselves a little more than the frustrated surfers and swimmers. Tides will be low shortly before dawn and high at lunchtime (7.6m).

Wednesday to Friday

Weather

Still cloudy and showery on Wednesday, with gentler winds (moderate force 4 ESE’ly) but similarly low temperatures. Thursday and Friday, however, should be lovely and sunny… the wind remaining moderate force 4 ESE’ly but the temperature nudging up to 9°C or maybe even 10°C each day.

Surf and the Water

Clean 2 foot surf on Wednesday, followed by a couple of likely flat days to finish the week. Although very cold, swimmers should enjoy some lovely smooth conditions along the west coast, especially towards high tide. Those highs will be in the late afternoons (increasing day-by-day from 7.9m to 8.5m). Low tides will be in the mid to late mornings.