A “local” look at the weather in the Grenadines
General information about the weather as we know it here in The Grenadines. Please note that it is still the weather, we don’t give any guarantees! I wrote this article ages ago for islandtimeholidays, and it is still the best information:
The climate in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is tropical, there is not much variation in temperature which is about 86° F, 29° C.
The islands are located at around latitude12°30′ North, which puts them in the path of the Easterly Tradewinds. This is what makes the Windward islands a perfect sailing destination!
Seasons
Officially there are two seasons, the “rainy season” and the “dry season.”
The dry season is from the 1st of November till the 1st of June.
The weather: Sunny and windy. There could still be occasional “tradewind showers” which are usually very short. The prevailing winds will be from the North East at 15-25 knots. For a certain period after Christmas the wind will be 20-30 knots, these are the “Christmas winds”. This period can occur any time in January or February.
The rainy, or hurricane season is from the 1st of June till the 1st of December.
The weather: Our most frequently asked question is: so how much will it rain, and what is the chance of hurricanes? Well, we can’t tell you that, but we can give you the general idea:
Tropical waves:
Approximately every three days a tropical wave will form off the coast of Africa. These tropical waves are small fronts which will bring cloudiness and showers for a day. Depending on how strong the wave is, it could rain for two hours continuously, or you may get an occasional shower during the day with partly cloudy skies.
The tropical waves have the potential to develop into tropical depressions, meaning guaranteed cloudy skies and rain.
The tropical depressions have the potential to develop into tropical storms, packing winds of over 35 knots.
When the wind is over 65 knots the system will be called a hurricane. There will be plenty of warning when a hurricane is threatening to approach the island chain, you will know at least three days in advance that a system is coming.
Please click here for current weather information
including real time radar images, tropical weather outlook and positions of tropical waves if any.
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The good news:
St. Vincent and the Grenadines is located at the Southern edge of the hurricane belt. The last time a hurricane passed directly over the Grenadines was in 1955. Hurricanes from Africa usually have a much more Northerly destination.
St. Martin and the Virgin Islands used to be the worst hit in recent times.
In 2004 and 2005 Grenada for some reason got hit by Ivan and Emily. As the hurricanes continue Florida, Texas and the Carolinas could be badly affected as well.
When a hurricane passes North of us, the weather here is absolutely gorgeous, as it will draw all the moisture away from us. We’ll have exceptionally clear blue skies and a visibility of over 50 miles!