When to Visit the USVI: Weather, Seasons and Festivals

The U.S. Virgin Islands are warm in every month, so choosing when to go is mostly about rain, storms, crowds and the festival calendar. This guide uses NOAA’s official 1991-2020 climate normals for the airports on St. Thomas and St. Croix, the National Hurricane Center’s season data and published cruise schedules. There is no wrong month, only trade-offs.

What is the weather like through the year?

The table shows NOAA’s 1991-2020 normals: the average daily high and low in degrees F, and the average rainfall for the month in inches, at Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas and Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix.

What the numbers show:

• Temperatures barely change. At both airports, the average temperature in August, the warmest month, is only about 6 degrees F above January’s, the coolest.
• Late winter is driest. February and March are the driest months at both airports, each averaging under 2 inches of rain.
• Fall is wettest. September through November bring about 40 percent of the year’s rain: 17.23 of 41.45 inches at the St. Thomas airport and 15.22 of 37.01 inches at St. Croix’s.
• May has a smaller bump in rain before a drier June.
• St. Croix’s airport is a little drier, with cooler nights, than St. Thomas’s.

Winter evenings are the coolest of the year, especially on St. Croix, where the average January low at the airport is 71.2 degrees F. A light layer for the evening is worth packing if you visit then.

For forecasts and current conditions, check the National Weather Service office in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which also posts tropical weather updates.

When is hurricane season?

The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to November 30, the National Hurricane Center says, though storms sometimes form before or after those dates. The season peaks around September 10, and most activity falls between mid-August and mid-October. In the 1991-2020 period, an average Atlantic season had 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes, counted across the whole Atlantic basin, not just near the islands. In an average season, the Hurricane Center says, the first named storm forms in mid to late June, the first hurricane in early to mid-August and the first major hurricane in late August or early September.

If you travel in those months:

• Watch the forecasts from the National Hurricane Center and the Weather Service in San Juan before and during your trip.
• Follow the Port Authority’s Facebook and X accounts, where it posts emergency notices and travel advisories.
• Expect boats to stop in rough weather. Love City Car Ferries, for one, says it may cancel or delay sailings in high winds, rough seas or tropical storms.
• Read the cancellation terms for your flights, ferries and lodging before you book.

Owners and buyers should also read our guide to hurricane and flood insurance.

When is it busiest, and when is it quieter?

Cruise schedules show the pattern. In the West Indian Company’s schedule of ship calls at St. Thomas and St. John for October 2025 to September 2026, December and January each had more than four times as many calls as any month from May through August. November through March were all busy months, and April fell in between. Most calls in that schedule arrive between 7 and 9 a.m. and sail between about 4 and 8 p.m., so cruise passengers are ashore mostly during the day.

Other sources point the same way. Love City Car Ferries calls December through April its peak tourist season and recommends booking ahead then and on holidays. The Department of Tourism calls the territory a year-round destination and says hotel and attraction bargains are most likely in the summer months.

Busy days can matter as much as busy months. On St. John, the Park Service says parking at the popular north shore beaches can fill by 10 a.m. If you want quieter days in Charlotte Amalie, compare your dates with the cruise schedules that the Port Authority and the West Indian Company publish.

Festivals and holidays by month

The main festivals are carnivals, with pageants, parades, music and food fairs. Exact dates move every year, so check our events calendar, which links to each event’s official page.

• February: St. Croix’s Agriculture and Food Fair, or Agrifest, a three-day fair that its organizers held over Presidents’ Day weekend in 2026.
• March 31: Transfer Day, a legal holiday marking the 1917 transfer of the islands from Denmark to the United States. For 2026, the Governor’s office announced ceremonies, cultural presentations and historical reenactments across the territory.
• Late April to early May: St. Thomas Carnival, a week of pageants, calypso, boat races, a food fair, J’ouvert (a street celebration that starts at daybreak) and parades through Charlotte Amalie, staged by the Department of Tourism and its Division of Festivals.
• June to July 4: the St. John Celebration, with several weeks of events in and around Cruz Bay that end with a parade and fireworks on July 4.
• July 3: Emancipation Day, a legal holiday. On St. John it falls in the Celebration’s final days, and the 2026 program marked it with a sunrise J’ouvert, a program honoring the abolition of slavery and an evening torchlight parade.
• December to early January: St. Croix’s Crucian Christmas Festival. Pageants and shows start in early December, the Festival Village opens after Christmas, and a food fair, J’ouvert and parades follow around New Year’s Day.

Organizers announce each year’s dates in advance; the St. Croix Source reported the 2026-27 Crucian Christmas Festival dates in mid-September 2026. If your trip overlaps a festival or holiday, book flights, rooms and ferries early.

How to choose your dates

• For the driest weather: February and March.
• For fewer cruise ships: May through July, before the most active part of hurricane season. The Department of Tourism says summer is also when hotel bargains are most likely.
• For festivals: late April and early May on St. Thomas, the weeks before July 4 on St. John, and late December to early January on St. Croix.
• To lower the hurricane risk: avoid mid-August to mid-October, when Atlantic hurricane activity is highest.
• For holiday travel: book early. Love City Car Ferries suggests arriving 45 minutes before a barge departure in peak seasons and on holidays, rather than the usual 30.

Ready to plan? See Getting to the USVI for flights and documents, and Visit for beaches, restaurants and tours on each island.