Guernsey Weather Fox

Friday

Weather

A gorgeous sunny day, with a gentle SE’ly breeze, taking us to a top temperature of about 16°C (much the same as it is in the sea at the moment). All places should feel lovely, but the west and north coasts will probably feel warmest of all, and the granite will hold some heat into the evening, making it lovely for late-season BBQs etc. Overnight (quite a lot later), skies will become cloudier and the wind a bit stronger, which will keep things mild (min temp 12-13°C).

Surf and the Water

The surf will only be knee-high at best, but it will be super-clean. The north and west coasts will generally be loveliest for swimming, although the breeze should be light enough for all coasts to be good. Tides will be high at 8:20am (9.1m) and low at 2:30pm.

The Weekend

Weather

Mostly cloudy on Saturday but probably dry right up until dusk, which is when some fairly heavy showers will arrive. Those showers will come and go through Sunday, with some brightness in between, but probably never any really solid sunshine. Winds will be stronger than the previous days… generally a force 5 SSE’ly on Saturday, but occasionally stepping up to strong force 6 towards evening. The, on Sunday, we will have a force 4 (but probably quite gusty) SW’ly wind. Max temps on Saturday just like the rest of the week… same old solid 16°C. However, on Sunday it’s probably going to jump right up to 18°C.

Surf and the Water

Super-clean waves all weekend (generally just 1 to 2 feet, but possibly picking up to 3 feet on Sunday). The north and west coasts will certainly be the best for swimming, especially towards high water in order to dodge the wind… speaking of which, the windsurfing and kite-surfing conditions should become pretty good too. Tides will be high around 9am (9m and 8.6m respectively) and low in the mid-afternoons.

Next Week

Weather

The general story is wet and windy but not cold. Ex-hurricane Kirk, having sat predictably for about a week somewhere close to the azores, will then engage the mid-latitude jet stream and transition into either one or a number of weaker and less predictable features. Weaker than a hurricane maybe, but still with the potential to bring some very troublesome weather to the British Isles… both from excessive rainfall and from very strong winds. The detail of who will get the worst of it and when, is full of uncertainty and therefore not easy to forecast at the moment, so better to sum the week up as a whole. Broadly speaking, the first half of the week will be dominated by mild S’ly winds, generally around force 4-5 but occasionally stepping up to force 6 and quite possible even force 7 to gale 8 at times. The second half of the week will have winds from a W’ly direction, which might be similarly strong at times or possibly much lighter. Heavy showers or longer spells of rain will come and go, probably affecting the Islands every day – whether that be during the hours of light or darkness. Some sunshine is bound to sneak through at times, and this will feel lovely and warm in sheltered areas, but it will never last long, so be sure to make the most of it whenever possible.

Surf and the Water

The mid-Atlantic hurricane/ex-hurricane activity throws a lot of uncertainty on the daily wind details. However, we can be quite sure that there will be plenty of surf (probably always within the 4-8 foot range). My best estimate is that the first half of the week will have the best wind-shelter on the north and west coasts, then the second half of the week will be smoothest on the east. Tides will be shrinking from highs of 8.4m on Monday, to 6.8m on Friday (those highs generally being in the late mornings, followed by lows in the late afternoons).