Which islands in the Caribbean are likely to have the least amount of
rain and the best weather during the first two weeks of August 2003?

Hello hjsinva-ga:

As the expiration date of this question is 21 July, I chose to answer
this question in a simplified manner that can help you in coming out
with one definite choice. I have compiled a recordings of
meteorological factors
that will effect your journey and made a comparison table for you to
get a better idea of the weather pattrens around these islands in the
month of August.

My favourite choice will be Aruba and vicinity (Bonaire, Curacao) OR
Netherlands Antilles as far as the rainfall and temperature is
concerned but you may decide on another island after doing your own
research.

Once you go through the table, I will advise you to browse through
http://www.weatherbase.com for a comprehensive list of destinations
within the island themselves. In my research, I used
http://www.weatherbase for most of my
research to come out with the data. Whereever I couldn't get the data,
I turned onto other useful links. I have listed those links at the end
of the table for your convenience.

Please make sure that while making your decision, pay close attention
to the temperature variation from spot to spot in an Island because
conditions in large cities may cause the temperature to fluctuate one
or two degrees
from the remote areas.

Since Caribbean lies in a volatile reigon where it rains all year
around, the temperature difference is not that great but some islands
get more rain than the others and may face more hurricanes in a
certain year than the other
islands.Therefore, it is viable that you check with the various
weather stations for the forecast once you have picked your
destinations.

Following is the table:

**************HISTORICAL MEASUREMENTS FOR THE MONTH OF
AUGUST****************

Island/Destination               Avg.      Avg.Days with      Avg.Days
                             Temperature   Precipitation      over 85F
                                                OR
                                               Avg.
                                           Precipitation

Anguila (The Valley)             85F           4.5in                28
Antigua & Barbuda (Saint John)   83F           4.0in                26
Aruba & Vicinity                 85F           1.5in                30
Barbados (Bridgetown)            82F           5.8in                22
Bahamas (Nassau)                 83F           6.7in                --
        (Freeport)               84F           8.1in                --
Bermuda (Hamilton)               82F           5.1in                3*
BVI (Belle Vue)                  82F           3.9in                --
Caymen Islands (George Town)     84F           6.6in                23
Cuba (Havana)                    82F           3.9in               
20*
Dominica (Roseau)                78F           6.4in                25
Grenada (Saint George's)         78F           8.7                  --
Jamaica (Kingston)               85F           4.2in                30
        (Montego Bay)            83F           5.2in                29
        (Negril)                 80F           6.4in                --
Netherlands Antilles (Willemstad)85F           1.7in                30
Puerto Rico (San Juan)           83F           5.3in                30
Saint Kitts & Nevis (Basseterre) 82F           5.2in                --
Saint Lucia (Castries)           83F           20                   22
Saint Vincent (Kingstown)        78.8F         9.1in                --
Trinidad & Tobago (Port of Spain)81F           9.4in                25
Turks & Caicos (Grand Turk)      84F           1.6in                --
USVI (Christiansted)             84F           3.5 in               30

*signifies number of days above 90F

Please use http://www.weatherbase.com as your primary guide and if you
don't come across information about your desired destination please
consult World Meteorological Organisation at
http://www.worldweather.org/wmo.htm.
Please use the following links for Aruba and USVI readings.
ARUBA
http://www.meteo.an/meteo2/eng/
USVI
http://www.vinow.com/usvi/weather.php

OTHR LINKS THAT I USED FOR MY RESEARCH

Worldwide Meteorological Links
http://www.dwd.de/de/wir/Interessantes/Links/Links.htm
http://www.intellicast.com

Netherlands Antilles & Aruba
Meterological Service Netherlands Antilles & Aruba
http://www.meteo.an/meteo2/eng/
Detailed Climotoligical Tables for Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saint
Maartin & Saint Eustatius and related information.
 
Bahamas
Bahamas Department of Meteorology
http://www.bahamasweather.org/Marine/marine_index.htm
(Please use the link provided in the first paragraph)
Covers the average mean meterological averages from 1971-2000 and
more.

Antigua & Barbuda
Antigua & Barbuda Meteoroligical Services
http://www.antiguamet.gov.ag/

Caymen Island
Caymen Island Weather Service
http://www.weather.ky/climate/index.asp
(please click on the top links to access information on temperature
and other meteoroligical factors. Detailed information on the area
forecast and historical mean forecasts.

Bermuda
Bermuda Weather Service
http://www.weather.bm/
(Please clcik on climate data from the navigation bar on top)
Detailed weather analysis and comprehensive records.

MORE LINKS

Cuba
http://www.worldweather.org/131/m131.htm

Dominica
http://www.worldweather.org/134/c00287.htm

Dominican Republic
http://www.onamet.gov.do/
http://www.worldweather.org/132/m132.htm

Jamaica 
http://www.metservice.gov.jm/
http://www.worldweather.org/026/m026.htm

Trinidad & Tobago
http://www.worldweather.org/027/c00100.htm
Information on the historical averages.

Please be advised that some of the pages in the  the 'MORE LINKS'
section may or may not be operational because of the mantainance
issues with the government website itself. I have provided the links
just in case you need to get a contact number of the weather bureau
for that country.

I hope it will help you to screen out the island of your choice.
Please feel free to ask for clarification before rating the question
itself. Good luck.

Sincerely,
leader-ga

Hurricane season makes this a difficult projection:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/NOAA_pr_05-19-03.shtml

i's say any of the 3 Netherland Antilles....Aruba, Bonaire or
Curacao....it is hurricane season....but, those 3 islands are rarely
in the hurricanes path...i'm sure they have been hit but not nearly
like the others.  Aruba is very dry...like...Arizona dry..it's very
beautiful, the people are great and there are good hotels & tourism
infrastructure.  Good luck!

The Caymans are far enough south that they're really out of the
hurricane path MOST years:
http://www.hurricanecity.com/caymanislands.htm

True Omni- but, last year was not a good year for Cayman.  On the
other hand...the odds, of a hurricane striking consecutive years, are
good that it won't happen.  Though I believe the question asked about
rain...not specificly hurricanes.  Aruba is outside the "hurricane
belt", and annually gets an average of 17 inces per year.

http://www.aruba.com/home.htm

I guess we all have our favorite islands & mine happens to have little
rain.
My 2 cents...ok...maybe 3.  8-)

Aruba is by far the best choice. On average (1971 - 2000),there has
been one inch of rain during the month of August. Last year the island
received about a quarter on an inch of rain during the month of August
with a total year's rainfall of a little over 8 inches.

The downside of travel to Aruba is its tradewinds. August has average
windspeeds of 18 m.p.h Once you get used to it, most do not find it a
problem especially in the heat. In addition, some are disappointed
that the island is not lush and tropical like most other Caribbean
islands. This is the trade off with not having to worry about rain.
But as another tradeoff, the west side of the island does offer powder
white sand beaches.

For actual statistics, see
http://www.meteo.an/meteo2/eng/reports/climsum/aru.climsum.htm for
conversion of the measurements from metric to the US system of measure
see http://www.arubabound.com/weathaverg.htm