Sunday
Weather
The wettest day of the forecast period. Only the slim chance of some brightness around lunchtime. Otherwise we are looking at grey skies, heavy with cloud at all levels, producing occasional showers and probably a longer spell of rain late morning and early evening. Winds will be light force 3 SE’ly at dawn, backing to a moderate force 4 E’ly by lunchtime. Max temp 11°C, overnight min temp 9°C.
Surf and the Water
Clean and very powerful 6-8 foot surf on the west coast, hopefully 3-4 foot on the north coast too. High tide will be around 7am and 7:30pm (8.7m and 8.4m respectively). Low tide will be around 1:30pm.
Monday and Tuesday
Weather
The take-home message is to make the most of these two days (in terms of outdoor activity), because the coldness of the festive few days ahead, will make most people want to stay indoors with the windows closed and the heaters on. Weather-wise, these final two days before the festive binge will be mostly or perhaps entirely dry, often cloudy but generally bright. Winds will be moderate force 4 SE’ly on Monday, then light force 3 ENE’ly on Tuesday, bringing daily maxima of about 11°C and nightly minima of about 7°C.
Surf and the Water
More clean surf… 4 feet and super-clean on Monday, reducing to 2 feet and semi-clean on Tuesday. The west coast will be the best place to swim and, with much colder weather on subsequent days, this would be a good moment to seize upon, if sea-swimming is your thing. Tides will be high at 7:40am Monday and 8:15am Tuesday (8.7m and 8.5m respectively). Low tides will be in the mid-afternoons.
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Weather
Possibly some sunny intervals, but also some showers on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (quite possibly sleety on Christmas Day). Skies will be mostly cloudy with an extremely cold feeling on all three days (especially Christmas Day itself). This is due to the very strong winds… a strong force 6 and gusty NE’ly on Christmas Eve, a force 5-6 E’ly on Christmas Day, then a force 4-5 ENE’ly on Boxing Day. Daily max temps will be about 7°C, 5°C and 6°C respectively. Nightly min temps will be about 5°C, 4°C and 3°C respectively, with a ground frost likely on Boxing Day night.
Surf and the Water
High tides will be mid-morning (or perhaps you could call it breakfast time at this time of year). Low tides will be towards dusk. The surf will be trather choppy due to the strong side-shore winds. Probably not worth the effort to be honest… 2 feet on Christmas Eve and Day, then only 1 foot on Boxing Day. As for the Boxing Day swim, it’s certainly going to be a very cold wind, but at least Cobo (just after high tide) will be one of the most sheltered bays on the Island.
The next forecast update will most likely be on Wednesday morning…
Previous Weather Fox ForecastsTide Tables
Swim Conditions
Ormering
Lihou Causeway