The National Weather Service has issued a small craft warning for the weekend as a weakening cold front entering the area will cause rough seas over the Easter holiday.
Chief meteorologist Kerry Powery confirmed the warning will be in place from Friday morning through to Saturday afternoon, followed by a small craft advisory on Sunday, Hazard Management Cayman Islands said in a Facebook post Wednesday on the upcoming sea conditions.
“Light winds and seas are expected on Thursday and will only start to increase becoming moderate to fresh northerly winds at around midnight,” Hazard Management said in the post. “After midnight, the northerly winds will make marine conditions rough along the western and northern coast of the Islands with larger waves and rough surf condition along exposed beaches.”
The weakening cold front is forecast to enter the Cayman area and, as it approaches on Thursday evening, the wind will briefly swing round to the west, the post said.
“The winds are to increase slightly by Friday afternoon from a north-easterly direction and is expected to last through most of Saturday. By this time the westerly exposed beaches can expect to see a decrease in wave action as these areas will be in the more protected ‘lee shore’,” it added.
Hazard Management said south-facing coastal areas, which are those that are close to the shore, should be calm and “perhaps the most enjoyable areas for a trip to the beach or swimming activities over Easter”.
Sea conditions offshore, which is past the drop-off, could be fairly rough for fishing and boating activities from Friday afternoon through the weekend, Hazard Management said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Allan Ebanks, in his Wednesday afternoon forecast, said the the outlook is for the approaching cold front to support light winds that will veer toward the south-southwest by Thursday afternoon and towards the west-northwest by Thursday evening.
“The cold front is expected to stall and weaken as it enters the Cayman area early Friday morning supporting some early morning showers, moderate to fresh winds and rough seas,” Ebanks added.
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