Bad luck with a rained out February trip, or is this normal?

veronique

New Member
Hello folks, my family and I have had a pretty unexpectedly rainy vacation; of the ten days that we’ve been on the island, three of them were completely grey and rainy from sunrise to sunset, and most of the others had either a morning or an evening interrupted by rain. We’ve had a lot of canceled plans for boat trips, days at the beach, etc, and it’s hard not to feel disappointed at all of the things we haven’t been able to do.

I’m wondering if the locals can help me understand; is this normal for February? Every website I researched said February was the dry season and even if it was rainy it would be a quick storm that would blow through in an hour. Last time I was here was July and we had three days of sunshine from dawn until dusk and one day that got a little stormy.

I guess I’m just trying to understand if all the rain this week and last is unusual and we’re just unlucky — or if my previous visit in July was the actual fluke and our experience here is more normal. I only ever see pictures of the island in the sun — pretty blue green waters, sparkling sunshine on the waves — so I was really hoping for some nice days like that.

Thanks for any advice about how to put this in perspective; Saint Barts is obviously a wonderful place and the food, people, and culture are gorgeous. I was just hoping for more than one or two bright sunny days during a ten day visit.
 
We have gone every January/February for years. This year we were there for three weeks. Our opinion is you had bad luck. For us we enjoyed the rainy day/overcast weather. It gave us rainbows. thunder and lightning, lots of breezes, prettier sunsets and more opportunities to shop.
 
Very bad timing, Veronique! I don't remember this number of sustained rainy days in many years, and just this morning -- as I was looking through the grey, rainy air to see a faint rainbow across Marigot Bay -- I was thinking how sad it must be for people who have been here for a limited time, seeking sunny beach days! I hope that you found some pleasure in fine dining, family togetherness, some shopping, naps, and maybe a few good books!
 
V: Mother Nature rules. For some, the rain is a dreadful thing. This especially when you and your family are in need of a February break from snow and winter. For others, it is a Godsend to refill cisterns and quench the thirst of plants. What to do???? Book next year's trip!
 
February is the month with the lowest average rainfall on St Barth. Last year (2019) there was an extensive drought, with no appreciable rainfall from sometime in the January/February time frame until July. Other years in the past have also had droughts which began in February and lasted for months.
 
Thank you everyone for your helpful responses, that does help put the weather into perspective. My thanks especially to cec1 — what a kind heart you have! Your response and compassion brightened my day and really helped me recognize the wonderful moments we did have on this trip, even if sunny days were harder to come by. For now, the sun has come out and at last today, and I am hoping in my heart that we will see a little more sun tomorrow before we leave ��
 
Veronique please return the positives totally outweigh the negatives. We have been visiting since 1987 and only experienced rain outs for one vacation. Literally stood under our umbrella at Emaruade Plage preying to the rain gods to make it stop. Then if we saw some sun shine over Lurin jumped into the Jeep and flew over there. Then if the rai started there looked for sunshine elsewhere and flew over there as well. One year we brought our niece down as a graduation present and had a “sand” storm obliterating the sun. The storm came from Africa. She was so miserable that we flew her home after 3 days and we toughed out the sand storm. While disappointed with any day in St. Barth where the weather was not spectacular we were still in paradise. See you on the beach
 
I.just came home after 8 days and I didn't think it rained that much. There is always some rain around but not that much to affect our vacation. Maybe having a pool and not having to go to beaches helped a bit. My kids loved every minute.
 
according to Gaisma, February has on average only 1.7" of rain but 14.2 days with some rain. It and March are driest months statistically.
 
Hi Andy,
Perhaps I am confused. I thought no children were allowed on the island under French law. At least that has been what I have been telling mine for many moons.
G
 
Hi Andy,
Perhaps I am confused. I thought no children were allowed on the island under French law. At least that has been what I have been telling mine for many moons.
G
Hi George. You are partially correct. No children from Pittsburgh allowed. Can’t understand their language
 
George...our youngest son was told the same thing when we were visiting St Maryin a lot. He was not an eater and would have been miserable.

A couple of years into it we got snagged. He went to sleep away camp and a bunkmate who had been there several times blew it for us. He could not wait to unload on us that summer’s visitor’s day.

And think that and the one about the tooth fairy were my two big fibs as a young mom.
 
This trip marks our 10th to the island and we’ve never had weather like this.

Because we’ve been here several times, the rain doesn’t bother us. We’re disappointed for our friends who are visiting for their first time. We always want new visitors to experience the beauty of the island.
 
We were on the island Christmas to early January and it rained every day morning noon and night no torrential down pours but those fast moving annoying rain showers . But we never had a full day of rain. Every night it seemed as soon as we parked a little annoying shower came down. When we were at Black Ginger they had to hurry and close the awning. Same at Eddy’s he was on a table trying to move tarp around in the yard to cover the tables the ppl were getting wet eating dinner. We were happy that Le Select has that new awning to help to enjoy our rose when the rain came or shelter the rain on our way to dinner. I guess that's island life
 
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