Good morning Bay Islands. Our photo of the day comes from Toni Cecilia Parkins, who took this photo of West Bay during a helicopter tour. She had great weather for that tour and we will have great weather for the next three days, with a small chance of a scattered shower today and likely very dry for Thursday and Friday. Winds and seas will be nice, too.

On satellite this morning we can see lots of rain over Belize, but only a few popcorn clouds, especially around Guanaja, which has picked up .15 of an inch in the early morning hours. These popcorn clouds will continue to weaken, but we will have partly cloudy skies today and a 30 percent chance of a shower today and this evening.

The reason we are saying Thursday and Friday will be dry is that the air over our heads will be drier (shown in yellow) and we will be in between wet air masses (shown in red). The red, moist air will move back in for the weekend, and we will go back to having scattered showers.

Wind and Galaxy Wave forecast: This morning we wake up to 15 mph east winds and seas 3 feet south side. Today we will have east winds 10-15 mph and seas should calm to 2 feet.
Thursday and Friday look gorgeous. In addition to dry conditions, we should have daytime winds at 5 mph and seas around 1 foot. So go out on the sea and have fun!

I’ve talked a lot about the awesome international dishes at Ikigai by Robby Molina in French Harbour. This past weekend I had the Greek dish, souvlaki, which is a lot like a gyro, but is meat (in this case pork) cooked on a grill on a skewer and then placed on hot pita with tzatziki sauce. It was awesome!

Low tide is 11 a.m. Have a great Wednesday!

Good morning Bay Islands. Our photo of the day is sunset at La Sirena in Camp Bay.
This morning we had a lot of rain on the east side and on Utila, where at 7:20 a.m. it seems to still be raining. We will continue to have scattered showers and thundershowers and mild winds and seas.

On satellite since midnight you can see rain clouds not moving a whole lot to the east of Roatan and over Guanaja. The edge of these clouds brought rain to the east side and none to the west side. At the end of the video you can see a storm building over Utila around 7 a.m.
As is normal at this hour, these storm seem to be weakening a little. We will still have a small rain chance during the day today and a much better chance the evening and overnight into tomorrow morning. That cycle will continue throughout the week.

Here are rainfall totals as of 6:30 a.m. As of 7:22 a.m., Utila now has over 2 inches since midnight.

Wind and Galaxy Wave forecast: We wake up to east winds 10 mph and seas 2 feet southside. We will continue to have daytime winds 5-10 mph and seas 1-2 feet and nighttime winds 10-15 mpha nd seas around 2 feet.

If you are a reader on Utila or Guanaja or even on the coast (we have a few subscribers in La Ceiba) and you want the best food for your good boy or girl, get in touch with Mitch Cummins and make arrangements to get a delivery of his Roatan Pets all natural food on the ferry. Your dog will thank you for the extra effort.

Low tide is 11 a.m. Have a great Tuesday!

Good morning Bay Islands. This morning’s photo comes from Christina Matthews and shows a fire dancer in West Bay bringing quite a bit of fire. Last night was kind of strange. I was getting all kinds of messages about meteors (Perseids peaked last night) but also about strange white lights at dusk going back and forth. If you saw anything stranger than lightning or meteors, let me know at bookmybio@gmail.com.

Here’s the rainfall from last night, which mostly concentrated on the west side, though Guanaja got a little rain this morning.

At 7 a.m. we see a few popcorn showers moving westward, one that produced some thunder east of the island, but seems to be weakening as it moves west. We have plenty of popcorn clouds out there, so I will go with partly cloudy skies today and a small chance of a thundershower during the day, and a better chance again tonight. We are in this cycle of a few scattered daytime showers and even stronger nighttime storms. But, hey, it’s better than a drought.

Wind and Galaxy Wave forecast: We continue to have nighttime and early morning winds from the east at 15 mph and 2 foot seas southside, with 5-10 mph winds middays and 1 foot seas. Those will continue this week but, as always, watch out for winds and waves in squalls.

We have another fairly calm week to take advantage of the great sale that Galaxy Wave has going on at roatanferry.com and the many locations across the island. $25 each way for the Roatan/La Ceiba ride. I will be on that ride next week Wednesday morning on my way to a Christian convention in San Pedro Sula. I can’t wait!

Low tide is 9:10 a.m. Have a great week!

Good morning Bay Islands. Our photo of the day comes from Elizabeth Sherry and shows the iconic Camp Bay at sunset. Camp Bay is an underrated beach with visitors, but is among the most popular with locals. If you want to enter this month’s contest with a chance for a free dental cleaning at Dilbert-Thompson Dental in French Harbour, send you photo with name and location to bookmybio@gmail.com.

There will be plenty of nice days at Camp Bay Beach this week, with most of our showers overnight and in the early morning.

Our satellite shows a few popcorn clouds, including a big one southeast of Guanaja. There will be a small chance of a shower through the morning hours, but we should be mostly sunny today. Toward evening chance of a thundershower increase. We continue the cycle of low chances of rain midday and afternoons and better chances overnights and early mornings. Looks like the west side got around a tenth of an inch in early morning showers this morning.

Wind and Galaxy Wave forecast: We wake up to east winds 5-10 mph and seas 2 feet southside. Winds will remain mild today with seas 1-2 feet. Winds and seas look fairly calm this week. As always, be careful of winds and waves in squalls, but other than that it looks like smooth sailing.

The storm in the Atlantic may be of some concern on Puerto Rico, but after that it should turn out to sea and become a fish storm, in other words a storm that is only a worry for fish in the ocean and not to any landmass.

Today is one of my favorite days — the day I get to go to Ikigai by Robby Molina for lunch. Hope to see you there. It is Lobster Sunday, but there are lots of options on the Asian-island fusion menu of one of the best chefs in Central America.

Tides continue to be mild. Have a great Sunday!

Good morning Bay Islands. This morning’s photo of the day comes from Josh Gravitt and shows a full rainbow over the Black Pearl Golf Course in Pristine Bay. Josh assures me that he didn’t find a hole in one at the end of the rainbow. Our rain chances are a bit lower today, but come back tonight and tomorrow morning.

This morning’s satellite shows a big complex of storms over Belize, but nothing much here. Today looks mostly sunny and dry. Tonight and tomorrow morning scattered showers and storms return and we will have that cycle most of this week, with a low chance of an isolated shower during the daytime and better chances overnight and in the early morning.

I want to talk a little about the nature of tropical weather. This satellite image is throughout the day on Wednesday. You will remember Wednesday produced the storm that created the waterspout that was our photo of the day Thursday. It was produced on a day that was clear almost everywhere in our part of the Caribbean, but around midday you can see one burst of yellowish orange that was this storm that also poured between 1-2 inches of rain on the west side.

Compare that with Thursday night’s satellite. There are lots of storm clouds around, but especially to the east of Guanaja. In the end, the islands got no rain from these storms. We see these storms moving west and weakening as they go, then reforming to the east of Guanaja and continuing the pattern. One thing I’ve learned about large complexes of storms is that unless you are right in the strongest part, where the cloud tops are the highest (represented by red on infrared satellite) you probably aren’t getting any rain.

Wind and Galaxy Wave forecast: This morning we are having one of the windier mornings we’ve had in awhile, with 15-20 mph east winds and seas around 3 feet southside. We will keep those winds and seas today, even a little breezier this evening with east winds 17-22 mph. Tomorrow and the week ahead look calmer, with east winds 10-15 mph and seas 2 feet southside.

It’s looking pretty certain that a tropical storm will threaten Puerto Rico midweek, but most of the models say this system will then turn out to sea. This is no threat to us.

High and low tides are hardly noticeable. Have a great weekend!

Good morning Bay Islands. Our photo of the day comes from Clyde Meyer, who captured this impressive waterspout yesterday afternoon in Brick Bay. I was actually driving by at the moment and saw my second waterspout in six years here. This was a rogue storm that formed suddenly yesterday afternoon, the kind of thing that can happen in the tropics. I always say waterspouts are generally harmless, but I guess if you were right under this one you would have gotten shaken up a little, judging from the way it stirred up the water at its base.

Here’s the rain totals from yesterday. Very little rain fell on the east side. The north side of the big island of Guanaja got .18 of an inch and no rain was recorded on Utila.

Here is the satellite from 6:30 a.m. We see a lot of showers and storms to our east moving toward us as our tropical wave nears. We should expect to see storms increase in the afternoon and evening, so keep an eye out for lightning and locally windy conditions in squalls.
Rain may linger into tomorrow morning, but the rain chances during the day tomorrow look a little less, around 30 percent with mostly cloudy skies.
Tomorrow night into Saturday morning rain chances are 50 percent, but go back down to 20 percent midday and afternoon on Saturday.
Sunday into next week there will be scattered showers around, 40 percent chances each day.

Wind and Galaxy Wave forecast: We wake up to a 7 mph east breeze and seas 1-2 feet southside. Today looks like a quite calm day, except that squalls and quickly create gusty winds and stormy seas, so keep an eye open.

Tomorrow winds will generally be from the east 10-15 mph and seas 2-3 feet southside.

Sunday will be a bit breezier, with east winds 15-20 mph and seas around 3 feet southside.

Next week looks quite calm for the most part, so a great time to be on the sea if you can dodge the showers.

I don’t know about you, but I get excited just looking at the menu at Ikigai by Robby Molina in French Harbour. Between the risottos and pad thai dishes, Jamaican pasta and Korean and Japanese tacos, I don’t think I’ve been in a fusion restaurant this good in Atlanta or Dallas.

High and low tides continue to be mild.

Wind and Galaxy Wave forecast: We wake up to a 7 mph east breeze and seas 1-2 feet southside. Today looks like a quite calm day, except that squalls and quickly create gusty winds and stormy seas, so keep an eye open.
Tomorrow winds will generally be from the east 10-15 mph and seas 2-3 feet southside.
Sunday will be a bit breezier, with east winds 15-20 mph and seas around 3 feet southside.
Next week looks quite calm for the most part, so a great time to be on the sea if you can dodge the showers.

I wanted to say something very briefly. There is a tropical wave coming off the west coast of Africa that all three computers (GFS, Euro and ICON) turn into a tropical storm/hurricane next week. The National Hurricane Center hasn’t identified it yet, but all three models have it going well north of us. We will keep an eye on it.

Good morning Bay Islands. This morning’s photo of the day comes from Erin Maria who was visiting West End from Northern Ireland when she captured this man contemplating a Roatan sunset. We should have another nice day today and increasing clouds tomorrow as our tropical wave nears. The National Hurricane Center has taken us out of any risk for tropical storm development, so that is good news.

You can clearly see the tropical wave in the Caribbean east of Nicaragua. Today will be mostly sunny with only a very small chance of a passing shower.
Tomorrow we will have increasing clouds and an increasing chance of rain as we get into the evening and overnight hours.
Right now, tomorrow night into Friday morning looks like our best chance of rain.
Friday into the weekend we will have 30 percent chances of rain.
Next week it looks like 40 percent chances each day as we enter a period with lots of scattered showers.

You can see that the National Hurricane Center has taken us out of any risk of tropical storm development and the Gulf of Mexico only has a 10 percent chance.

Wind and Galaxy Wave forecast: We wake up to east winds 5 mph and seas 2 feet southside. We will remain calm today with seas 1-2 feet. Tomorrow will also be calm, but watch out for squalls tomorrow afternoon and night that can whip up the seas. This weekend we should have east winds 15-20 mph and seas 2-3 feet south side and next week looks quite calm again.

I’m going to be my own sponsor today. I’m selling my 2012 Ford Escape.
It has a new paint job and undercarriage rust protection
New suspension
Cold AC
127,000 miles
I’m asking 175,000 lempiras ($7,000) negotiable. I’ll be heading toward Coxen Hole this afternoon if anyone wants to take a look.

High and low tides are quite mild. Have a great Wednesday!

Good morning Bay Islands. Our photo of the day comes from Lisa Cox. Her sunset was taken in Sandy Bay. We will continue to have gorgeous sunsets today and tomorrow with mostly sunny skies an only a slight chance of an overnight shower. Our tropical wave will pass through on Friday, but it is highly unlikely to develop into anything close to a tropical depression by then.

On satellite we can see that we have clear skies this morning, but we also see the tropical wave right now north of the Colombian coast. We should see increasing clouds Thursday. The best chance of rain will come Thursday night into Friday morning and Friday night into Saturday morning.

In the long-range forecast the weekend looks a little drier, but next week looks like another week with lots of scattered showers.
Wind and Galaxy Wave forecast: We wake up to 10 mph east winds and 2 foot seas. Those may calm a little as we get toward midday. Wednesday and Thursday look like calm days. Friday we will have moderate winds at 15 mph, stronger when we get a squall. The weekend into next week looks fairly calm as well.

With a couple of gorgeous days coming up, it will be a great time for outdoor grilling, and no place has higher quality meat on the island than the two locations of Carniceria Rosita — Coxen Hole and French Harbour.

Low tide is 3:50 p.m., but should be pretty mild. Have a great Tuesday.

Good morning Bay Islands. We have a gorgeous sunset sent to us by Guadalupe Alvarez Montserrat as our photo of the day. I think that might be a mermaid in the front of the photo. We have three nice days coming up and then, probably Friday, a tropical wave that the National Hurricane Center has identified as an area for investigation.

We have clear skies overhead at 7 a.m. and a few popcorn clouds to the east of Guanaja. They are moving west, but it is unlikely they will make it to the islands with any rain. This afternoon we will be partly cloudy and we will have a 20 percent chance of an evening shower.

Tuesday and Wednesday look very similar, as does Thursday, except Thursday we should have increasing clouds as the tropical wave gets closer and gives us a good chance at a rainy Friday and perhaps Saturday morning.

Here is the map from the National Hurricane Center. It shows a 30 percent chance of tropical development (at least a tropical depression) over the next 7 days. The computer models aren’t as strong on this storm as they were two days ago when I did the video on it, but we should still keep an eye on it.

The arrow points to where the storms are now, crossing over the Lesser Antillies.

Wind and Galaxy Wave forecast: We wake up to 10 mph east winds and 2 foot seas south side. Winds should stay around there throughout today, increasing to 15-20 mph east winds and 3 foot seas overnight. Tuesday we will have 15 mph east winds and 2 foot seas. Wednesday and Thursday look quite calm. What happens Friday depends on how the storm develops.

With calm seas it is a great week to take advantage of the special Galaxy Wave is still running — just $25 each way to La Ceiba. Get your shopping and medical visits done before the possible storm comes on Friday.

Low tide is 3:15 p.m. Have a great week!

Good morning Bay Islands. Our photo of the day comes from Sue Jensen in Lucy Point and shows the calm bay right outside her house. Today we will enjoy a picture perfect Bay Islands day with calm winds and seas and no rain. Get out there in a boat, with a fishing pole, with a snorkel or with dive gear and enjoy it!

This is as clear as I’ve seen our satellite in a month. There are very few clouds out there and the winds are calm, so it will be a hot day. The airport had a high of 86 (30C) yesterday, but today we could easily get to 90 (32C).
Rain chances are quite low tomorrow and maybe 20 percent Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday we will have increasing clouds and maybe a rainy day on Friday.

Wind and Galaxy Wave forecast: Today will be a dead calm day. Tomorrow we have southeast winds 10-15 mph and seas 1-2 feet southside. Tuesday winds will be from the east at 15 mph and 2 foot seas. Wednesday and Thursday look quite calm, perhaps the calm before the storm that may be coming Friday.

I did a video yesterday about the storm right now due north of Surinam in South America. It is heading west and will head into the Caribbean on Monday. Right now the models show it coming south, hitting the coast of Nicaragua Thursday and sweeping our way on Friday. This is a map of vorticity, the spin in the upper atmosphere. Right now it isn’t expected to become a tropical storm, but these things can change, so we’ll keep an eye on it.

If it’s Sunday, it must be Lobster Day at Ikigai by Robby Molina in French Harbour. It’s the best lobster deal on the island and Melissa Dixon will take good care of you and make sure that you get the experience you’ve been craving.

Low tide is 2:30 p.m. and tonight will be dark with no moon. Have a great Sunday!