USVI-On-Line

OK...before I even ask my question, let me say that I know it WILL rain somewhere in the forecast area practically every day in the Caribbean...heck anywhere in the tropics AND that most weather forecasting tools aren't worth *#@! beyond about 36 hours... But:

Is there anywhere than provides decent weather forecasts for general trends such as "...there's a major low-pressure system that probably will be in the region for a few days which greatly increases the odds of having more rain than normal or generally all day type of rain"? or..."a very dry high-pressure system will dominate our weather for the next week making it clear, sunny, and hot"

Accuweather and Wunderground are the only two sites I've really seen, and both change their extended outlooks daily. Getting a little nervous looking at next week since our trip in 2010 had a LOT of rain for an entire week.

Have you looked at wind guru? It shows temperature, cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed, wave height etc. Here's a link to the St. Thomas page:

http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=229370

I think it is considered pretty reliable. Enjoy your trip!

The forecast from the National Weather Service has proven to be the most reliable IMO. I fret about the weather too:) Accuweather is all over the place. I think the biggest factors this time of year that cause rain chances in the forecasts to go up are tropical waves. But sometimes they pass without fanfare if they are weak. One just went by the VIs today. And the next is scheduled for Sunday/Monday. let's keep our fingers crossed!

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... n=-64.7914

And here are two weather discussion links which will explain if anything is brewing. The first is specific to the VIs and the 2nd is for the general area but is more detailed.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/JSJ/RWSVI

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/view/prodsBySta ... discussion

Although Wunderground keeps promising rain, we have NONE. It's needed badly. No rain in the forecast. Time to really be water consumption aware!!!

I use www.weathercarib.com - locally produced and plenty of useful links.

Thanks everybody. It's a good thing I spent a few years working launch and landing days on space shuttle missions and know how to read the METAR weather data! Those are great sites, but not all for weather novices that's for sure!

From what it sounds like I'm now wondering just how conservative we will have to be on the cistern water!

Just got back, basically it never rained. I saw a lot of water trucks driving around.