The weather during August is a very warm in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico and this is also the month when tropical cyclones become active. Gale force winds are rare, however, but can occur in the vicinity of tropical storms and hurricanes.
August Pilot Chart
Wind
The prevailing winds across the Caribbean during August tend to be from the east, generally light to moderate (7-16 knots) except in the south-central portion of the Caribbean where moderate to fresh (11-21 knot) winds prevail from the east or northeast and where rough seas of 8 feet or higher can be expected about 20-30% of the time.
Over the Gulf of Mexico the wind tends to be light (7-11 knots) and more variable in direction.
Tropical Cyclones
Tropical cyclone activity is most frequent over the northeastern Caribbean Sea and waters north of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola as well as the Bahamas and east of Florida where there is a 30-40% risk of at least one storm occurring during the month of August. The risk decreases to around 20% over the Gulf of Mexico and to below 10% over the southwestern Caribbean.
August Tropical Cyclone tracks
Temperature
August is very warm with air temperatures averaging 82F to 85F and sea temperatures range between 83F to 86F.
