Here’s why you can’t trust Maldives weather forecast

Recently I was contacted by a guest planning to visit Maldives in last week of January 2018. Guest was very trouble by the fact that weather forecast showed some rain during her stay in the Maldives. In personal experience I knew in February Maldives has the finest weather conditions, January is also a good month but February is usually better.

I advised the guest with my local experienced and told predicting Maldives weather is often possible as it keep changing. Also, in Maldives we have over a thousand islands and there can be rain on one island but not to the other even though both are very close. I have seen many times raining to other islands but I got no drop. Usually you see rain approaching from other islands. Because Maldives islands are surrounded by sea you can physically see raining on the ocean and rain approaching towards you.

The guest said she saved her money for 3 years to visit Maldives. Then seeing it rains some days was apparently stressful to her. So, I decided to check the forecast to the nearest location to the resort she booked. I checked the forecast and it showed some days having some showers, also one day that is not sunny.

Next day I checked the weather forecast for the same location. Just after 1 day, forecast changed a lot. This time it showed all days sunny. I passed the good news to guest. You can see the screenshot of the two days below.

My point here is, Maldives is a very tropical country and weather forecasts are highly inaccurate. I have weather gadget on my smartphone. Some days it shows totally sunny until it starts raining. Just when it starts raining forecast changes.

Also an important point to keep in mind, showing some rain on weather forecast does not mean it would rain whole day. A few minutes of rain a day means you still see the day having rain, along with sunshine. I like a bit of rain everyday, it clears up the atmosphere, visibility of the sea gets better if you plan to snorkel or do diving. It is also good for trees. But, too much rain is not good and no body likes it, especially when you visit Maldives in winter you badly want sunshine.