Tag Archives: Weather

29 April 2013, Crab Cay

Behind Crab Cay

Obstructed so very little swell comes through

Squint and it’s South Pacific sans dames

Calm

Calmer

Calmest

By late yesterday, we were ready to MOVE! Think of a game of blanket toss controlled by people angry with one another and refusing to synchronize. The wind, indeed went more southerly, and while Janet still managed to create an excellent meatloaf in the pressure cooker, but it was a bit of a circus. This morning we broad reached away from Powell Cay at 1000 to make sure we arrived at Crab Cay at high tide. We made it quickly in 22kts of wind from behind our left shoulders. We motored in slowly and were pleased to find depths that would allow us to leave on any tide. They didn’t quite match the chart, but that’s not uncommon here. Before we come back, we are going to cache all the Google Earth images we can as they are much newer than the charts and while they contain no depth data, they do show bottom contour information. Even though it’s blowing more than half a gale, this place is comfortable. Only the Batelco tower and a rare passing vehicle on the highway near it (and the abandoned back-hoe) hint of humans.

Nature’s wheel is turning. Cold Fronts are becoming less frequent and are dissipating before reaching the islands. The longer days mean more atmospheric heating. Temperatures are warming. Warmer air pulls moisture from the ocean. Humidity is going up. Showers are showing up in the forecast more frequently. Trade Winds are settling in. People have begun migrating west and north. We won’t for a while.

The prediction to the left is in 12 hour slices starting today.

This morning dawned gray. But it was the gray of smoke — blown our way from the southwest by winds gusting 35+ It smells of burning scrub rather than rubbish. There is carbonized ash (HOT fire type) all over everything. Where it lands, static electricity and/or salt makes it stick. We thought we left this in California!

The weather here has caught folk’s attention, Bahamian and visitor alike. With a spike in 2007, it has been cooler and dryer here over the last five years (from 1 Nov to 24 Mar each year). The average winds are about 2% slower, and only 2.5% gustier (2012 vs average). [Keep in mind the force of the wind varies as the square of the speed -- a 10 mph breeze is 4 times as forceful as a 5 mph one. This means that the perception of windiness derives from the ratio of the gust squared divided by the average wind speed squared.] The data is presented below. Click on any chart to get the gallery.

Drying

Breezing

Gusing

Has Felt Gustier

Cooling