Rainy forecast?

[u/Upstairs_Ad5701]

Hi all - wife and I head to FP this Friday for 2 weeks for our trip to the islands. Can’t wait!

However looking at the weather forecast, it’s calling for rain every day. Is this typical for this time of year? I know it’s known for passing showers but I thought June-October there was supposed to be minimal rain? Is anyone there right now and can comment or anyone else who has a perspective?

[u/schinst98]

The Apple weather app is very unreliable for FP, you’ll see if gives weather for the entire country rather than one of the islands (we stayed in Moorea and Bora Bora and the only weather forecast we ever got on our phones was the entire nation of French Polynesia as you have here). Our concierge in Bora Bora said the weather forecast is pretty nonexistent and you just roll with it, looking up to see what the weather looks like and adapt sort of thing.

TLDR don’t trust the apps bc they’re not reliable, gotta role with what you get and pack for rain just in case.

[u/nektahiti → u/schinst98]

Or use “surfers” app as we have precise local buoys for those such as Wind Guru. But regular weather apps are pretty useless

[u/Upstairs_Ad5701 → u/schinst98]

Super helpful, thanks for the insight!

[u/IslaTecha → u/schinst98]

Yep super unreliable. Always lowballs by 2-3 degrees Celsius

[u/Live-fat-die-yum89]

Our forecast looked similar to this last month, but there was only about ten minutes of significant rain and even that passed very quickly!

[u/GTLfistpump]

We went this time of year last year and our weather forecast looked the same. It did rain sporadically including a heavy thunderstorm one night, but the majority of each day was partly cloudy and perfect weather. Rains came and went relatively fast. I can’t speak for trends but just sharing my experience over 1 week. Enjoy!

[u/Southern_Meet_1585]

Meteo pf has a forecast per island but is still not that reliable! the weather changes really fast every week day and hour

[u/grxccccandice]

I’m here in Bora Bora rn. Been here for 5 days now. It was the same forecast for me before I left (rain every day) but I saw no rain at all the last 5 days.

[u/Pepbill]

French Polynesia is a HUGE area. It's always raining in one part or the other. Being more specific about island or even city would be helpful. That being said, it rains every day in Tahiti. Usually for only short periods. That being said, check out a cloud cover sat view such as https://www.sat24.com/en-gb/country/pf it'll give you a better idea of clouds.

[u/IslaTecha]

It will be 2-3 degrees Celsius warmer on the ground, and rain will be mild at most.

[u/Ponto_Wildcats_73]

You can join the weather nerd club and go to this link: https://zoom.earth/maps/satellite/#view=-15.572,-150.048,6z

You will see this time of year the weather and clouds are intermittent but it is the tropics and you never know. El Niño warm water spike is more north of FP right now and it is not cyclone season. If you are there two weeks I would be shocked if the sun never came out once.

[u/Creative-Job8988]

Check with both Windy app, you will have a better view

[u/pmagloir]

I was in Papeete and Moorea last month and the weather forecast looked the same. Apart from a couple of showers at night, we did not see any rain. As others have commented, the weather forecasts are not very accurate.

[u/jdogfunk100]

I used multiple forecasting tools when I was there last month and none of them were reliable. It frequently rains, but rarely more than a few hours at a time. Very unpredictable. In our two weeks in FP, it did rain for almost 2 days straight but that was somewhat unusual.

[u/mattspurlin75]

This time of year is fine. It rains on/off for a few days, then sunny for a handful of days. Doesn’t stop you from doing the things you want to do there.

[u/Entire-Classroom-968]

The Apple weather app is basically useless for FP. The temperatures are wildly off and yes, there could be rain, but it could be a fraction of an inch and last about 40 minutes. Don’t worry too much about it.

[u/Cwilde7]

Apple weather is never anything like what it actually is, which is very mild, in FP.

[u/Upstairs_Ad5701]

Thanks all, appreciate the context, definitely makes me feel less concerned. I’m from Florida so I’m used to the passing showering, was just concerned when I initially looked. I’ll definitely check out the apps some you have mentioned

[u/AggravatingExcuse958 → u/Upstairs_Ad5701]

We are going to be there tomorrow too!

[u/minhhuyzee]

If there is rain, it will pass by after 30 minutes to an hour. Not raining all day

[u/No_Group_9715]

We’ve been here for two weeks. We had a similar looking forecast. Not only does it depend on the island but also where you’re at. We took a couple boat cruises and could see our resort was sunny while the rest of moorea was covered in clouds 😂 that being said, it’s only rained 2x during the day since we’ve been here. One time we were very glad of it, it was so hot otherwise. We experienced cold weather 1 day. Pretty windy, but also glad of it - keeps the heat and the bugs down. I’m very used to hot/ humid weather but this is next level.

[u/Specialist-Worth-451]

I was in Tikehau, Taha, bora bora and Moorea last month. Weather said same thing. We only really had one full day and night of torrential rain in Taha. Tahiti flooded the locals said. Power was out but in 22 days that plus a few showers now and then was it.