London Mali Areas of enhanced convection give enough upwards air movement to create an area of lower pressure. Ouargla Luxembourg A contributory factor is the very high sea temperature reaching about 29C just SE of Cape Verde. The trigger is often an easterly wave although it is rather more complicated than just that. North Sea If in the Caribbean, then nowhere is really safe. Otherwise, showers during December to February are relatively few except where they are formed by a combination of heating and orography. This Inter Tropical Convergence Zone is an area of much cloud and rain with light variable winds - usually known as the Doldrums. Before and during deliveries, ocean races, regattas, cruises, and all other types of offshore passages, we have
Anyone wanting to return to the Caribbean after the hurricane season could have some difficult decisions with the predominantly E to ENE winds and an adverse current. software. Gran Canaria your whole route covered. New York Further north than Cuba, especially in Winter, extra-tropical lows with their frontal troughs can give strong to gale force winds with cloud and rain rather than showers. Our sailing weather forecasts are derived using data from the most trusted and reliable weather models available. In mid-latitudes, most sailors will know that the strength of the wind depends upon the pressure gradient and that the Coriolis effect causes the wind to blow nearly along the isobars, but slightly across them towards low pressure. South Pacific Near the N and S tips of the islands, winds can increase by a force or so and become more pronounce NE or SE - whichever is the more adverse in my experience! If you use this site
The N wall of the Florida current is frequently cloudy with low stratus. New England Jacksonville Amsterdam Note that wind statistics from Island stations are not representative of the open sea, eg Funchal, Madeira shows a predominant daytime S because of sea breezes and sheltering from the N. Around the Canaries there are some very marked local effects that can give winds much stronger than over the open sea. NOTE. Maracaibo But we do it because we believe our forecasts matter. about 150 - 200 miles off shore. Wales. Casablanca North America This effect is very limited and will disappear a few miles towards either colder or warmer water. Tunis The closer the isobars, the stronger will be the wind. Some European insurance companies may refuse to insure yachts in the Caribbean during the hurricane season. Cities : Pittsburgh Sint Maarten This will mean dodging east coast depressions to get from the US to Bermuda, perhaps around mid to late May, so as to be on passage from the Azores to the UK or to Lagos during June/July. These often deepen rapidly in this area to become the infamous Cape Hatteras lows. Oran Tripoli Milan The optimum time for the return trip, whether direct or via the Azores is probably to leave the US or Bermuda in sufficient time to get to the Azores before any early season hurricanes have a chance to turn northwards to the east of the Caribbean but late enough to avoid the worst of the Winter Atlantic depressions. Inflows to this trough from north and south, deflected by the Coriolis effect, give the NE and SE Trade Winds. Austria Leaving from a little S of Cape Hatteras could give a reasonably free wind until near the Bahamas. Warnings are usually good and well in advance although they may not predict too well the most likely places to be worst affected until about 48 hours ahead. Madeira, itself is near the northerly fringe of the NE Trades and the southern limit of the Portuguese N Trade winds. Because of the Portuguese Trade wind current, the sea will be rather cold and the air temperature, likewise, will be on the cool side. Approaching Cape Verde, the effects of the ITCZ may start to become evident. Regata al Sol (Pensacola to Isla Mujeres). Faroe Islands In the Winter occasional extra tropical (mid latitude) depressions can make their presence felt as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. Solid line - Florida Current/Gulf Stream Dotted line - North Wall extreme positions. Easterly waves are likely to give increased cloud, heavy showers and stronger, gusty winds from time to time. They are quite hard to detect from conventional observations although satellite pictures should show the increase in cloud. Ouagadougou Over the S tip of Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas the frequency is about one year in two or three, a little less over BVI, decreasing southwards to about one in five over Grenada and one in ten over the Venezuelan coast. Best advice is to be as far south as possible - perhaps Grenada in one of the deep bays on the south coast or in the Trinidad/Venezuela area.