myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Quick weather reort,yesterday lovely with a few patchy clouds,rain overnight and noe it is a beautiful dat,28c with a few whisps as the rain forest breathes.
David

Paul Tallet wrote:Hi A Ali

Yes it is beautiful in the south of Trinidad ... but you could get a little Liquid Sunshine as you go north and into Tobago where some wispy areas of moisture are forming from a westerly jetstream passing close to the north.

I sense from the weather conditions that the waves should be quite strong but the usual source of information that I seek has been closed down recently so I cannot check that my senses are true.

Anyone that can tell us what the waves are like ... David Watkins is the closest one to any Beach ... David ... full report please ... ?

Regards

A bit late I know Paul, but might be useful. Yesterday the swell was the least that I have ever seen at Arnos Vale. Also the lowest tide seen there. Easy to get out and snorkel and well worth it, but a bit cloudy still due to the run-off from the heavy rains. Same situation at Castara a few days before. Breaking waves rarely more than 2ft high, but very murky water.

Steve.

Additional to above - Paul, over the last 3 weeks in Tobago there was a persistent weather pattern as seen from Mount Irvine. This seemed to be a continuous band (like a motorway) of cloud running down the length of the island, coming from the East or North East.

We had some very heavy rain, persistent and continuous again on some days, and often days would start bright and turn 100% cloudy again by midday, with occasional showers.

Over the 3 week period (December 15th to January 5th) this pattern was only really broken in the last 3-4 days, when the bright blue skys and sun fuly returned. I believe (after talking with David Watkins) that in Castara, the band off cloud was missing the beaches and the weather was a little better.

Since I missed your reports over thet period, I would be greateful for some comment as to whether this is typical or not? Clearly it was much better than last year (only one landslide / fallen tree seen in Castara) but it seems that the rainy season has slipped later in December.

The Dry Season has hence been locally re-named to "The so called Dry Season" and "This is the so called Dry Season" T-Shirts are planned for next December

Cheers,

Steve.

Hi Steve

The cloud you speak of always looks like it is coming from the east because that is where the wind has been blowing from for most of the time ... it is an optical illusion !!

During one holiday I had on Tobago there was a persistent area of cloud covering the area from Pigeon Point all the way up to the Rex Turtle Resort and it was there (on and off) for days.

These things happen and the cloudy area can simply represent the covergence of 2 lower level airflows airflows ... if they have a slightly different temperature it can create moisture.

One theory I have, apart from the ability of the rainforest to produce localised rainfall, is the height of Tobago ... to the east the mountains are high and the trades from the east are pushed up and around the sides of Tobago.

Winds going to the Atlantic side pass over cooler seawater and the winds on the northern Caribbean side are passing over warmer water.

This may explain why there can be some light rain and cloudiness to the west and flatter side of Tobago when these low level airflows then converge again.

I don't really think there is a dry season ... the rainfall is pretty similar all year round ... the only exception is when there is a storm or exceptional rainfall that normally happens at one or two point between June and December.

Hope all this makes sense.

Regards

Well,yesterday was absolutely gorgeous.The only clouds were the steam off the forest from overnight rain,otherwise just a few vey high whisps.Temp yesterday pm 33C!Today(9:30am)it is clear as a bell except for the high whisps,the sea is fairly calm(12 to 18 ins) and,at six am the warmest it's been since I arrived.
Regards fron Castara,
David

David

Thanks for the feedback.

I am surprised to note that you got up at 6 in the morning ... no party last night?

Anyway ... the sea always feels warmer in the morning because the air has cooled overnight a little bit ... it always takes longer for the sea temperatures to change than the air ... I am always telling my children that the sea has not, in fact, warmed up overnight.

Yet another illusion that I have cracked

Keep the feedback coming.

Regards

Paul Tallet wrote:Anyway ... the sea always feels warmer in the morning because the air has cooled overnight a little bit ... it always takes longer for the sea temperatures to change than the air ... I am always telling my children that the sea has not, in fact, warmed up overnight.

Yet another illusion that I have cracked

Hey Paul, agree with what you say, but it might not only be an illusion There are two or three other factors (at least) affecting the sea temperature in a bay like Castara. Firstly, the run-off from rivers cools the water after heavy rain. Secondly if the swell is very low, and tides low too, heat is retained better in the bay from one day to the next, as the water circulates less. On Clear hot days, small and shallow bays warm up considerably when the tide is late in the day too, as the tide rises over the heated sand and rocks.

Steve.

Yes Steve.

But I was talking about 'day to day' factors.

If there is heavy rainfall then I guess you may feel the odd cool current when wallowing in Castara Bay but the discharge from Castara's river is very small compared to the overall impact of the Ocean temperature.

The tides ... Castara is a relatively shallow Bay and the effects of tides have a larger impact than, say, Englishman's where the Bay is deep and it can be a little cooler.

The effect of the tide in shallow Bays like Castara ensure that there is more Ocean influence to maintain the temperature relative to the Caribbean Ocean.

Overall ... the essence of what I am saying is that short term (overnight) fluctuations in air temperature are hardly going to make an impact on sea temperatures.

In other words ... try defrosting a chicken and an ice-cube ... the more dense the mass then the longer it (the chicken) takes to thaw ... equally, the ice cube would form/freeze more quickly than the chicken if you did it the other way round.

A more favourable option could be to spare the poor chicken and accept my theory ... splosh !!!

If only I could be there now.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Yesterday it cloude over at about midday and got extremely humid.It looked like rain and I think it may have in the SW-but not here.Overnight shower,now at 9am it is beautifully clear.The sea and sky are both an amazing blue.Cheers,
David in sunny Castara

wether today is mixed.I left Castara to Scarbro'in brilliant sunshine-got Scarbro'-overcast and showers,itstill looks bright up the otherend tho'Yesterday was superb,one light shower at midday the afternoon was v hot.
Regards from Scarbro'
David

Thank you for the feedback David

Is it getting a little cloudy right now?

It is looking cloudy and possibly enough for some light rain here and there as some moisture passes through ... could last tonight and tomorrow.

After that the winds should decrease and the weekend is looking calm.

Regards

Paul,total cloud cover and intermittent heavy rain from about 4.pm yesterday.A lot of overnight rain and rain showers this morning.Local time is 9am and there is a bout 6/8's cloud cover,a gentle breeze,the local forecast is for the showers to continue thru the day.Oh well,still happy,
David

Hi David

The cloud and generally trivial, yet irritating, light rain will continue for at least another 12 hours so this makes the last update on Liquid Sunshine still accurate.

The air is mostly dry but Tobago, Grenada etc have been a little unfortunate as the trades have carried a very large area of weak moisture with some small pockets of rain.

Looking forward to a brighter weekend.

Keep up the updates ... it is a great help.

Regards

Paul

Friday am,cloudy,intermittant heavy showers(can't see across tha bay!)
I want the sun,I can't spend all this time in a bar!!!!!!!!
David

Yes David

There is a heavy pulse of rain building from the south-west and moving north-east across Trinidad.

This is likely to affect Tobago for the next several hours.

I guess you had better stay in the Bar.

The weekend still looks brighter when this mucky weather moves on.

Regards

On your tab Paul??

David

My dear friend ... from the legendary tales that I hear ... I sense it would be unwise to give you a bar tab ... but I will get a round in any time for the pleasure of your company that is an occasion I look forward to with relish.

Now that you have probably spent the last several hours consuming the entire supplies of Carib in the various respectable institutions within staggering distance of your digs ...

... I am pleased to report that the rain is going away but the cloudiness will hang on.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow morning.

Regards

David

I must also add my comments to Paul's.

In a little under 3 weeks I shall be arriving in Castara. Now, we have all heard of road rage and air rage and even supermarket rage, but have you heard of Stag-rage. As guardian of this site, I am entrusting you with the responsibility of ensuring that their is adequate stocks of Stag - or Carib if all else fails - for the duration of my stay. The consequences of failure on your behalf are too terrible to detail here.

Yesterday was absolutely atrocious-it just pxxxxd down all day!This morning quite bright with high streaks of"mackerel"clouds.

I heed the warning,oh Master of the Site
David

Well after all that Stag and Carib you have been consuming ... were the Mackerels the only ones pxxxing it down (or up?) all day ???

I hope you have a better day today ... it's was looking bright this morning.

Regards