There is actually a picture posted a little further down the page that shows what rain is in the virgin islands. Rain is usually a hit or miss variety and depends where you are on the islands. I can't say that it won't rain all day but it's usually hit or miss 10-15 minute shower.

Yes, it is really the rainy season. As other have said, it is very hit or miss and usually only rains for a short time.

But the chance of a rainout is why the prices are lower this time of year.

Thanks for the responses. I'm sure that we'll have a great time, even if it does rain!!!

Chance of rain 100%, if your standing under that cloud. 🙂

Thanks, On Island Time, I'll try my best to stay away from THAT cloud!!!

We were all talking about this yesterday on our gorgeous ferry ride back to STT.

When we arrived it was miserable and rainy and the owner of our villa management company told us it had rained for four days and was supposed to rain through Wednesday. We were freaking out.

We had a few storms in the middle of the night and on Thursday it sprinkled (with the sun shining brightly) on us at the beach for about 10 minutes. But every day we were there was bright and sunny.

It probably does rain a little bit every day on STJ, but don't let that freak you out about your trip. We just planned to have a shopping day when the big thunderstorms came. They never did, and we went to Hawksnest for the day. The only bad thing was that I didn't pack my noodle anticipating a shopping day!

My parents travel to Tortola (just next to StJohn)for my mom's birthday (end of Oct) every year. They have been doing this for at least 15 years and havenever complained of rain. They always return with tans.

Remember the last line of the hurricane rhyme:

"October - All Over!"

Rain should be diminishing in Oct...especially toward the end.

I want to thank everyone for your replies. I am usually just a lurker on the message board, but I have read a lot of helpful hints on here!! Keep up the good work!!!

Bonita

Weather forcasting is all a game of statisitcs and numbers.
30% chance of rain means 70% chance it won't
Forcasting showers on STJ means it might rain on the East end and not on the West.
Rain might last 10 minutes, only occur late in the evening or very early in the morning
Either way, the forcast was correct but it never spoiled your stay.

I never worry about the weather unless there is a name associated with the event and as Blu has pointed out, that season is pretty much over now.

Thanks, Chris at Work!! I'm over worrying about the rain! You have all convinced me to relax, and enjoy my trip.

My wish is that all potential visitors stop fussing about rainfall!

With a new leak in the roof I just went through a two week period of being dumped on by rain every damned day and so I growled endlessly. Friends/residents just up the road in Red Hook got minimal rain, usually wet Northside friends had "normal" rain for their area, I got dumped upon ad nausea! There is no rhyme nor reason.

The weather does what it does best, as in piss off somebody in some area at some time. St Thomas is a tiny speck in the ocean, as are STJ and STX. Waves come through and dump rain, usually on a pretty lean trajectory. You can be driving down a road and all of a sudden get hit by what seems to be a deluge to beat all deluges. The sky is black, the rain is not just falling but is HURLING major globs at you. Two minutes later, after you thought you were in Hades, you reach the next intersection and find blue skies and no indication of any rain. Had you paid attention you might have noticed a distinct wet/dry line in the road.

As far as reserved sailing adventures are concerned, be aware that no licensed sail, dive or tour operator in general would ever put any customerr in harm's way.. Cheers!

Okay, STT Resident------I;m over fussing about the rain. One week to go, and I'm getting in Island mode!!!!! Thanks for the input. Hope the roof quit leaking.

Well, we are back from our trip. Guess what? We had rain every day. Not just a little rain, but major rain every day. So much for the 10 or 15 minutes of rain a day. More like 10 or 15 minutes of sun a day. There was no driving away from it. It was totally raining over both islands every day, except Tuesday, the day we left.

Okay, I know that it was from the tropical storm, but it sure put a damper on our trip. Guess we won't go in Oct. any more. We really did have a good time, in spite of the rain.

We rented a villa, very expensive, and very disappointing.

The only highlight of trip was that we had a real blast at Woody's.

Oh well, better luck next time, and there will be a next time.

Anyone who was here last week pretty much got rained out. We had two weddings at the hotel and, well, they will certainly have funny stories to tell in the future -- but they weren't laughing, believe me.

It doesn't help, but those days have been the ONLY really rainy weather we've had all season. But that's why they call it the off season and why prices are lower.

I've been checking weatherunderground for the last few days and it's interesting how it changes everyday. Where it once said 60 percent chance of rain...now it's 20 percent - 40 percent.

Can't worry about it. It is what it is. We're going whether it rains or not.

It could've been worse. People in other Caribbean locations lost their lives during Tropical Storm Noel. I'd take a rainy vacation over that anyday.

The rates are cheaper because the weather might be bad during hurricane season. I'm not letting it slow us down, though. I really liked having the island pretty much to ourselves in October, and we're going back next fall.

If worse comes to worst, I'll take a plastic statue of the Virgin Mary in my suitcase and stick it on the windowsill. The nuns in grade school swore it helped keep the rain away.

Until December 1st it is Hurricane Season. The weather this time of year can be very wet or not. I am always prepared for rain.
Andrew