☆ Sint Eustatius Weather June 2026

Sint Eustatius Climate Guide

Climate Overview

Sint Eustatius has a tropical maritime climate with a drier season from January through April and a wetter season from August through November. Annual rainfall along the coast averages around 1,000 mm39 in, though the forested slopes of The Quill receive considerably more due to orographic lift.

March is typically the driest month with under 40 mm1.6 in of rain, while September and October are the wettest, each exceeding 120 mm4.7 in. Brief, intense tropical showers account for most of the precipitation, and sunshine is plentiful even during the wet season.

Daytime highs range from 29 °C84 °F in winter to 31 °C88 °F in summer, with overnight lows between 23 °C73 °F and 25 °C77 °F. The annual temperature range is narrow, varying only a few degrees throughout the year.

Persistent northeast trade winds blow year-round and moderate the heat and humidity, keeping relative humidity around 74% in the dry season and rising to about 79% in October. Sea breezes along the western coast provide additional cooling during the afternoon.

Monthly Climate Averages

Long-term average temperature and rainfall for Sint Eustatius by month.

Hurricane History

Sint Eustatius lies in the northern Leeward Islands, one of the most hurricane-prone corridors in the eastern Caribbean. Stormcarib records show roughly 76 tropical systems have passed within 111 km69 miles of the island since 1851.

The Great Hurricane of 1780, the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record with over 22,000 deaths across the Caribbean, devastated Sint Eustatius on October 10. A catastrophic storm surge flooded the island, and nearly every building north and south of Oranjestad was blown down or washed away. Between 4,000 and 5,000 people perished on Statia alone.

In more recent history, Hurricane Hugo (1989, Category 4) passed through the region with winds of 257 km/h160 mph at peak intensity, though Sint Eustatius experienced only slight damage to buildings and tourist facilities.

Hurricane Georges (1998, Category 3 in the Leeward Islands) passed directly over Sint Eustatius and Saba, causing major structural damage to the F.D. Roosevelt Airport terminal and knocking out telephone service across the island. Fortunately, no serious injuries were reported.

Hurricane Lenny (1999, Category 4) followed an unusual west-to-east track in November, generating destructive waves and requiring relief supplies to be airlifted to the island.

The most significant modern storms were Hurricanes Irma and Maria, both Category 5 systems that struck in September 2017 within two weeks of each other. Irma passed roughly 60 km37 miles from Statia, causing infrastructural damage, water shortages, and telecommunications outages. More than 90% of all trees on The Quill were severely defoliated, and wildlife populations declined sharply in the following years.

Geography & Terrain

Sint Eustatius is one of the smallest inhabited islands in the Caribbean, covering just 21 km²8 sq mi. The island measures roughly 10 km6 miles long and up to 5 km3 miles wide. It is a special municipality of the Netherlands, located about 61 km38 miles southeast of Sint Maarten and 8 km5 miles northwest of Saint Kitts.

The island has a distinctive saddle shape with two volcanic centres. The dormant stratovolcano known as The Quill dominates the southeastern end, rising to 601 m1,972 ft and featuring a steep-sided crater roughly 760 m2,494 ft wide and over 300 m984 ft deep, filled with tropical rainforest.

The eroded northern hills, including Signal Hill at 234 m768 ft, are the weathered remains of a much older volcanic centre. Between these two ends lies a low central plain where the capital, Oranjestad, and the F.D. Roosevelt Airport are situated.

The Quill creates a noticeable rain shadow and orographic effect on local weather. Moisture-laden trade winds are forced upward as they strike the volcano's slopes, producing heavier rainfall and cloud cover at higher elevations, while the lower coastal areas remain drier. The crater interior supports a lush tropical forest that is considerably wetter than the surrounding lowlands.

In contrast, the northern hills are more arid, with vegetation dominated by grasses, cacti, and thorny woodland. The island's small size and relatively low maximum elevation mean it does not generate its own weather systems, but The Quill can trap passing clouds and produce localized showers.

Sint Eustatius is historically significant as the site where the first foreign salute to the American flag was fired from Fort Oranje on November 16, 1776, and today the island has a population of approximately 3,200 residents.

Climate normals based on published data from multiple meteorological sources including F.D. Roosevelt Airport (TNCE) records. Monthly values are approximate long-term averages.