December 28, 2023

Good morning Bay Islands. This morning’s photo of the day comes from Matt Harper and shows the bright lights of Bodden Bight in St. Helene at sunrise. These high cirrus clouds are in advance of a norther (cold front, frente frio) that should bring a little rain the evening, more rain tomorrow and a lot of rain and heavy seas Saturday.

On satellite you can clearly see the cold front stretching from Yucatan to Florida.

Here is this morning’s radar. Heavy rain from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida. All of this is moving south.

This morning seas are fairly calm at 1-2 feet and waves are coming from the east. Around midday winds will start coming from the north at 10-15 mph and seas will also start coming from the north, though only around 2 feet. Clouds and rain chances will increase as the day goes along, and tonight we will have a good chance of rain. Rain will be off and on Friday with seas increasing to 4 feet from the north by nightfall. Saturday is the worst day, with seas from the north 7-9 feet and periods of heavy rain. Watch out for flash floods as many of the computers want to give us around 4 inches or more on Saturday. Rain should lessen on Monday though we may still have a chilly rain around, especially in the morning. Monday and Tuesday should be cool and I’ll be watching the thermometers to see if we get some 69 degree readings (20.5C) out there.

Here is the Euro prediction for Saturday. The purples just to our south are for 4-5 inches of rain. Notice that the rain is heavier closer to the coast. This is a classic norther setup, so better chances of heavier rain for west Roatan and Guanaja, better chances of seeing less rain east Roatan and Guanaja.

Here is the GFS prediction for rain on Saturday. You will notice they are very similar, meaning we have high confidence we are getting a lot of rain Saturday.

Weather looks good for much of next week, as we get back to mostly sunny skies and seas turn back to the east at 3-4 feet. If you are planning a cruise next week, don’t forget to check out excursions from the Jolly Roger Roatan. They will make sure you have a great day on the sea and get you back to your ship safely and on time.

Low tides are 4 p.m. and 4 a.m. Have a great Thursday!