Wet, summer season

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. The chart below shows the rainfall distribution during the passage of one such system.

Need less to say the tropical wave is not the most popular weather feature affecting the Caribbean islands but is seen only as the early stages of the formation of a hurricane. During the summer months the main impetus for the development of these systems are the tropical waves. Most hurricanes formed in this manner have to have long tracks to affect the Cayman Islands, as they tend to form in the Atlantic tropical waters. Hence they tend not to be too frequent in occurrence.