October 14, 2023

Oct. 14, 2023: Good morning Bay Islands. We have clear skies across our islands and good viewing weather for our solar eclipse, which will start around 10 a.m., peak darkness will come at 11:40 and end at 1:30 p.m.

Peak darkness will last just over four minutes from about 11:38 to 11:42. We are mostly clear, but you never know when a stray cloud will get in your way. Remember that unless you have certified glasses or lenses, no one should look directly at the sun. Various locations are hosting gatherings. If your business is, feel free to post in the comments section on our Facebook page.

Today will be the last day with a very low chance of rain. Tomorrow we will have a few scattered showers around, but we shouldn’t have a whole lot of rain. Winds and seas will be fairly calm. Our winds will start to turn around to the north on Monday and clouds and rain chances should increase through the day Monday. Our rainiest days should be Tuesday and Wednesday.

The US GFS computer rainfall forecast for Tuesday is forecasting about an inch and a half for Roatan and Guanaja, but notice how the closer you get to the coast, the higher the rain total gets. That puts Utila in an area with 4 to 6 inches.

The Euro computer rainfall forecast for Tuesday gives the west side of Roatan just under 4 inches. Both forecasts look very similar for the day on Wednesday. Rain totals are forecast to be a bit lower Thursday into the weekend, but scattered showers are still in the forecast for those days.
In my experience, rain forecasts for northers tend to be a little exaggerated, but we will definitely get good rains this week. Winds Monday evening through Wednesday morning will be 15-20 mph from the north giving us 4 foot seas on the north side. There will be periods of heavy downpours when we might pick up an inch in 15-20 minutes. That kind of rain can lead to flooding, especially in areas where construction has changed the drainage pattern in unpredictable ways over our dry year so far. Be weather aware this week and enjoy the cooler temperatures!