April

Travel discussion for St. John
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adlnp
Posts: 29
Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 5:40 am
Location: RI

April

Post by adlnp »

Hello to everyone! It has been a year since my last St John trip. I try to get down there annually for the last 15 or so years. This year I made the mistake of letting some of our travel group talk me into "something different" and went to Aruba. :roll: :cry: The weather was fantastic but that is the only great thing I can say about the island. Needless to say I was not a fan and will not return but that is a story for another time. Now...last year I went to St John in April, which I have never done before. We had a straight week of overcast, not so much rain, but NO sun! So disappointing after a long, dark winter. I am accustomed to getting a short bout of rain here and there with scattered clouds but WOW. I usually go sometime in May. I have been in June, Oct and Jan (which was too cold to swim in my opinion) but have NEVER had the weather I did in April. I am booked for next April (school vacation) and I am hoping I just had a bit of bad luck and that this is not the norm for April weather on island. May have been dust too but again is this the norm for April? Any input on April STJ travels would be appreciated. Thanks and have a great day!
54b
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Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:40 pm
Location: Dallas, TX

Re: April

Post by 54b »

By no means scientific, but from reading this and other STJ forums over the last 10 years, it does seem like there's a week or two every year around the end of April, start of May when the amount of rain the island gets is more than usual. I typically read posts like yours about lack of sun or the mosquito bloom that comes after. But again, that's not scientific. You could very well have a perfectly sunny week in April.

We go in June and have never actually had what I would call a truly rainy day...only some rainy nights. But we always have the dust in June.

From what I've read, the Sahara Dust has been arriving about this time (mid-May) for years now. If you're going in April, you should miss the dust.

Hopefully some of the locals or other forumites will attest or refute the comments above. Hope that helps.
It’s not about yesterday or tomorrow...It’s about today, for come what may – Sun, rain, or hurricane – we've only time for a smile, and none for sorrow
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BAILEYBAY
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Location: Indiana

Re: April

Post by BAILEYBAY »

We just returned from 2 weeks in April and the weather was glorious. One afternoon of rain and rain during the night....but otherwise just absolutely wonderful. We have been going in April or May for a while and we have always been very fortunate when it came to the weather. One year it was pouring at 8:30am when we got to Maho so we drove out to Vi's and the sun was shining allll day. We were the only 2 people on the beach for the entire day....
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lark22
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Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:52 pm
Location: Boston

Re: April

Post by lark22 »

Last time we were on island in April was two years ago, for our 10th anniversary, for a 10 day stay, I think? We may have had a day or two that weren't start-to-finish sun, but it was mostly gorgeous.

I think it's the luck of the draw, really...but I've always enjoyed our April trips!
adlnp
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Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 5:40 am
Location: RI

Re: April

Post by adlnp »

Thanks for your responses. It seems I may have just had bad timing last year. Maybe it was my turn to have one of those blah weather vacations. Regardless, I am booked and most definitely looking forward to getting back to STJ. So long Aruba! Thanks again!
AquaGirl
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Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2006 6:59 pm
Location: Fairfax, Virginia

Re: April

Post by AquaGirl »

A wise person on this forum who lives on the island (Pia) has said that every year there is usually a week in April or a week in May when its rainy and dreary.

I read recently that some of the BVIs had a torrential rain storm on May 10 this year which caused damage to various places. I wondered if StJ experienced that same storm?

Like 54b, this isn't scientific, but FWIW it's our experience from the past 11 years.

One year, we went in mid-April and the island had been in drought for quite a while. The island vegetation was brown and dry. The weather was great - sunny every day and the water was wonderfully clear since there hadn't been rain for a long time. No Sahara dust that I remember.

In 2007 we went the last week of April into the 1st week of May. It rained almost every day for most of the time. Several times the rain was very heavy and some days it lasted all day. Some days were just overcast and we had a few mornings with some sun. Worst weather we've ever had in the 25+ years of travel to the Caribbean. In our trips since then, thankfully we haven't experienced that again.

In recent years, we usually go the last 2 weeks of May or last week of May and first week of June. The water seems much warmer. Since we snorkel for many hours, it's been nice to have warmer water. We occasionally had a rainy afternoon, but the weather was mostly great.

Have a great trip and be sure to write a trip report!
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Pia
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Re: April

Post by Pia »

I usually stay away from weather questions for April and May and October and November but in the 12 years we have lived here we have had 7-10 days of rain/overcloud skies sometime in the April/May time frame and again in the Octber/November time frame, every year no exception, but what week it might be who knows .. so for 50 of the 60 day it will be wonderful but for 10 of the 60 - not so good.

Pia
Realtor - St John Properties
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Pia
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Re: April

Post by Pia »

Aquagirl - we had 5.5" of rain in that day ... crazy !!!

Pia
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RickG
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Location: Coral Bay, St. John

Re: April

Post by RickG »

Pia said it well. Stats don't tell you the experience, but here they are.

http://www.weather.gov/media/sju/climo/stats/2010s.pdf

Our experience has been that last week of April, first week of May will see a rainy period after the usual March dry spell. Unless it doesn't.

End of April and end of October are our usual months to visit. Rain happens. We've only been washed out once in 20+ years, November 2003. That was a great trip.

Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
adlnp
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Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 5:40 am
Location: RI

Re: April

Post by adlnp »

UGH! I will be glad when we no longer have to worry about our daughter missing school. High school is not so forgiving these days about missing classes.
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