You’ve arrived at the Cape Verde Islands! The currents within the islands are changeable and confused so it will be hard to give a forecast, and the same goes for the waves. Right now it is 70 degrees Fahrenheit with a dew point of 64 degrees in Sal, Cape Verde. The wind is 13 knots from the North Northeast and the weather is reported as haze and blowing dust. The mid-Atlantic stationary high is back in place but a new north Atlantic low pressure system is approaching from the west yet again. Closer to you, a weak low pressure system is dissipating nearly due west of you at 42W accompanied by a weak frontal system so we will want to watch the remnants of this in the days to come. Winds will continue to be out of the north but will increase over the next few days, especially to the south and west of the Cape Verdes. Cloud cover will also increase but temperatures should remain steady.
Next 12 hours (current location, 15N, 23W)
wind: northerly to northnortheasterly increasing from 12-23 knots up to possibly 18-20 knots, but with sheltered areas in the lee of Fogo and Santiago Islands (thought I suspect this area is south of your route).
current: generally less than 2 kts but in a variety of directions
18 hours (intermediate location)
wind: 15 to 18 knots in the same direction
current: less than 1.5 knots with a southerly component
24 hours (15.5N, 24W)
Wind: Same as before (Note at this point that the winds to the west of the Cape Verdes have increased significantly to over 20 knots from the NE)
currents: Possibly the same as before, but approaching an easterly current of 1.5 to 2 knots just south of and running parallel to the 16N latitude line. Not sure how long this easterly current will last.
Significant wave height is 2-4 meters throughout the forecast period but it does not appear that the WaveWatch3 model resolves the Cape Verde Islands well so I would take all wave height forecasts with a grain of salt until you are in the open ocean again.
Forecaster Brown