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Weather Overview for Nassau

Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas on New Providence, receives a tropical maritime climate with warm, dry winters and hot, wet summers. The winter lasts from November till April, and the winter lasts from May till October. While the Bahamas are susceptible to hurricanes, New Providence is relatively sheltered from all sides by the surrounding islands. This does not mean it is out of harm’s way, but the risk of being hit is slightly reduced. The hurricane season lasts from June till November, though early months remain at low risk. October sees the peak of hurricane season.

The winter season is the preferred time to visit Nassau as the slightly milder temperatures are easier to acclimatise to, and there is a reduced chance of rain. Rain can never be ruled out on tropical islands, but its frequency is reduced, and its quantity drastically lessened. When it does fall, it does so in short, torrential bursts before clearing up again. Throughout the season, the daytime average temperature remains in the mid 20s, cooling down to around 17°C at night. In the midwinter months, December to February, the daytime highs are often only reached briefly in the afternoon and night times can be a little chilly, sometimes dipping below 15°C. The very beginning and very end of the season are probably the best time to visit, avoiding the coolest nights, though April is in the peak tourist season which begins in December, and can be quite crowded.

Some say that seasons blend into one another in the Bahamas; that it is hard to tell the difference between summer and winter. Heat and sunshine are guaranteed year round. However, this is due to the torrential nature of tropical rainfall. The rain pummels the tropical landscape with seemingly inexhaustible fury, and then is exhausted. The sun is never shy in Nassau but the summer season really is the wet season, with a jump in rainfall levels from October till March. And while the risk of a hurricane is never very high anywhere in the world, the Bahamas, being in the gulf stream and in the path of north-easterly trade winds, are at a much greater risk than most other locations. The greatest risk is in October. The western side of New Providence receives higher rainfall than the east where Nassau is situated. Summer is also around 5°C hotter than winter months seeing daily average highs around the low 30s, and night times around the mid 20s. While this can be uncomfortable, those who can’t acclimatise after a few days can always escape back to their air-conditioned luxury resort.

Nassau, as the capital of the Bahamas, is the largest city in the islands. It is the most built-up and receives heavy tourist traffic; Nassau‘s port is crammed full of the fibreglass iceberg yachts of the super-rich, the shopping malls house the delights of any American shopping centre, and the souvenir shops are bursting with trinkets made in China. However, the whole island is one of great ecological and topological diversity, with examples of all the habitats to be found on the rest of the Bahamas. Within reach from Nassau are not just brilliant white beaches, but superb corals, cliff shorelines, mangrove swamps, ridges, rainforest, dunes, rainforest, flat rock land and so on. There is a little bit of everything in this modern paradise.