Climate

The Cayman Islands have a tropical marine climate, with a wet season of warm, rainy summers (mid-May through October) and a dry season of relatively mild winters (November to April). Located in the northwest Caribbean, west of Jamaica the three Cayman Islands are in a unique position to be far enough north to be affected by cold front during the winter and still within the belt that is influenced by tropical waves and hurricanes during the summer. A typical day would have you wake up to warm sunny mornings becoming hot by afternoon with a few afternoon thundershowers especially over western Grand Cayman.

Occasional surges of cooler air from continental North America, the leading edge of which is called a cold front is the main winter system affecting the Cayman Islands from late October through early April. These systems are the major producers of rainfall during the winter months although precipitation is not quite as long lasting or of the same amounts as with summertime systems. The stronger cold fronts tend to bring strong North to northwest winds and rough seas, especially along the Western and Northern Coasts of the Islands: Such fronts are locally called “Northwesters”.

Perturbations in the easterlies or tropical waves are the main summer systems affecting the Cayman Islands from late May through November. During these months the systems move through the Cayman area roughly every four to five days but can all but disappear for a few weeks. The stronger of these systems tend to bring a day or two of cloudiness, heavy showers and thundershowers during their passage and strong southeast winds after their passage. During the summer months the main impetus for the development of these systems are the tropical waves.