Weather Saint Lucia , Carribbean
St Lucia is a volcanic island located in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the Atlantic Ocean border. The island experiences a tropical climate with high temperatures, high humidity, warm sea temperatures and intense rainfall during the wet season. The north-eastern trade winds greatly affect the climate, making the temperatures cooler than other islands in the Caribbean, although still remarkably hot compared to the UK.
St Lucia is found close to the equator which results in very little variation in terms of temperature between the spring, summer, autumn and winter season. In fact, St Lucia doesn't really experience four seasons, only two the dry season and the wet season. The dry season falls between December and June and the wet season falls between July and November.
On average, temperatures in St Lucia usually vary between 24°C and 31°C, rarely dropping below 22°C or rising above 32°C. The warm season lasts from mid-August to the end of October, when average daily highs are above 31°C, whilst the cold season lasts from mid-December to mid-March when average daily highs are below 29°C. September 30th is usually the hottest day of the year, with average highs of 31°C and lows of 26°C, whilst January 23rd is often the coldest day of the year, with average highs of 29°C and lows of 24°C.
The topography of St Lucia is very mountainous more so than many other Caribbean islands. The southern half of the island is mainly covered by mountains whilst the northern half has more hills than mountains. Despite the volcanic nature of the island, the majority of the beaches are made up of white or golden sand, although there are a few black volcanic sandy beaches scattered throughout the island, too.
Just like the average temperatures hardly change throughout the year, the average sea temperatures see hardly variation either. Between January and December, the average sea temperature for the sea water around the island varies from 27°C to 29°C, which means whenever you visit, it will always be warm enough to go swimming.
Similarly, the average sunshine hours for St Lucia hardly change, either. March is usually the sunniest month of the year, when the island enjoys ten hours of sunshine each day. The rest of the months boast either eight or nine hours of sunshine every day.
Dry season (December-June)
The dry season is the busiest time of the year for St Lucia and is usually when flight and accommodation prices will be at their highest and resorts will be at their most packed. At this time of year, average daytime highs fluctuate between 31°C and 29°C, whilst average night time lows range between 23°C and 25°C. Temperatures drop between December and January and then begin to rise from February onward as the season progresses.
The highest temperature ever recorded in St Lucia during the dry season is 37°C, which happened in May, whilst the lowest temperature ever registered in St Lucia during the dry season is 16°C, which occurred in December, January and April.
With an average of 140mm/6 inches of rainfall spread out between 20 rainy days, June is usually the wettest month in the dry season. On the other hand, with only 21mm/1 inch of rainfall divided between 16 rainy days, April is usually the driest month of the wet season. Between December and April, the precipitation drops, but from May onward, it increases as the wet season nears.
The start dry season is usually the least cloudy time of the year, which makes it a great season for sunbathing. Median cloud cover starts at around 57% in December, falling to 53% by January and then gradually rising until it peaks at 75% in April, when the sky is more overcast than it is clear. The median cloud cover then continues to fall until it reaches 68% by June.
Wet season (July-November)
Because of the unfavourable weather conditions, the wet season is the least popular time to visit St Lucia, which means you'll be able to snap up some fantastic deals, if you don't mind a bit of bad weather. During this season, average daytime highs range between 31°C and 32°C, whilst average night lows range between 24°C and 25°C.
The hottest temperature ever registered in St Lucia in the wet season is 39°C which occurred in November, whilst the coldest temperature ever recorded on the island during the wet season is 20°C, which happened in September and November.
With an average of 237mm/9 inches of rainfall divided between 20 rainy days, October is the wettest month of the wet season and the whole year. At the other end of the scale, with only 167mm/7 inches of rainfall divided between 20 rainy days, November is the driest season of the month. Precipitation increases between July and October then begins to decrease from November onward, as the dry season edges closer.
The median cloud cover for St Lucia decreases as the wet season progresses. Median cloud cover starts off at 65% in July and rises up to 70% by September/October, before falling down to 61% by November.
Extreme Weather
The most extreme weather conditions that occur here are hurricanes which have caused extensive damage throughout the island. On the bright side, most of the time St Lucia has been lucky to not have experienced severe devastation, although in 1980, Hurricane Allen destroyed the agricultural sector of the island and claimed nine lives.
On December 24th 2013, 15 inches of rainfall fell within 24 hours, resulting in dramatic floods and mudslides in St Lucia, Dominica and St Vincent. Five people died in St Lucia, thousands of homes were without running water and electricity and even more properties were damaged. Since the hurricane season had been particularly quiet that year with only two storms (making it the quietest in 30 years) the locals were unprepared for such devastation, which is why so much damage was caused.