USVI-On-Line

I tend to look at 3 or 4 webcams around St John a few times throughout the day and it sems to me that there has been very few truely sunny days in the past month or so. Is that if fact the case, and is it normal for this time of year?

It is true that the last month there were a few good rains, but I believe what you've been seeing today and in the last few is Sahara dust. Though it's not bright with clear blue skies, you can still catch those sun rays through the dust, so hopefully everyone's still using their sunscreen. Not that I have any experience with that.

I have been seeing the same thing on the webcams too. I will be in St John the end of the month and have been watching the webcams every day to see the weather and it looks really cloudy and hazy everyday.

Sahara dust again, huh? It was quite hazy like that last June when we were there, and I was hoping it wouldn't be so bad for our trip in a couple of weeks.

This is what it looked like from Jost last year looking back toward STJ. There are definitely some clouds, but it did not rain either place that day. The haze was all attributed to the Saharan dust.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34283698@N03/3696011409/" title="more Survivan by KTinTX, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2475/369 ... 2566_b.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="more Survivan"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34283698@N03/3696051753/" title="another Survivan shot by KTinTX, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3486/369 ... df23_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="another Survivan shot"></a>

So how long will the "dust" last. I'll be there in exactly a month. Do you think it'll be clear then?

Every year we get 7-10 days of torrential rain and by that I mean cloudy, low ceiling and rain, rain, rain vs the quick showers that we usually see the rest of the year and this happens in April or May and again in October or November but when exactly we never know - this year it is a little late and happened the very last week of May and the beginning of June.

Saraha Dust will happen on and off throughout the summer and although not ideal for visitors, it is in a way, a welcome sight as it keeps the risk of "H" down (not going to type that word ) This particular dust storm is expected to last through the weekend. Here is a link to an old thread and a few weather sites that we use to track the dust.

Pia

http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... araha+dust
http://stormcarib.com/goes.htm (scroll down to the SAL chart)
http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/gc_wmb/dki ... t_day.html
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Natura ... p?id=44169

BRY,

the dust looks bad in long range views and photos, but it really doesn't make or break a vacation. The sun is still out, it's still nice and warm, and the potential for skin damage is the same. You just get the hazy look on the horizon.

Now that I know that it wont prevent us on our vaca from doing the beach, snorkel, hike, etc, I find it very interesting. I love reading about all sorts of weather. And if it slows down "you know whats", all the better!!

My husband and I, our two daughters, plus their boyfriends, are headed down this Saturday. The boyfriends are newbies, and I'm hoping for better weather for them.