The contents of this site:

Summary of Suggested Sources

This Initiative to Assemble World Wide Met Information for the OCC

Basic Facts about Weather Prediction in 2007

Met Data Sources

Sources of Information for the next 24 Hours

Sources of Information for Extended Periods

Ocean Access to GMDSS Shipping Forecasts

Obtaining Weather Data Over HF

Using Mobile Phones to Obtain Met Data

Low Bandwidth Met Messages to Obtain GRIB Data using Ugrib and Saildocs

Passage Planning and Weather Routing

Climate Research

The Future for Marine Data Communications by Satellite

SUMMARY OF SUGGESTED SOURCES
Return to Contents List

It is unwise to make recommendations as any met prediction system is liable to have a bad day! The following suggested sources are readily available and easy to use.

For the next 24 hours:

National Shipping forecasts on the Radio, VHF, NAVTEX and the web, for instance via Marinecall. 

The output of high resolution models (do not trust these beyond 36 hours). Examples available on the web are WindGuru using the MM5 model output for localised reports, and ProGRIB using the NMM model. Other such sites are Theyr.net, Theyr.tv and BuoyWeather.

For up to 7 days:

Low resolution US GRIB data can be retrieved free from the GRIB site by registering for UGrib software which uses File Transfer Protocol (FTP).  Saildocs (free), GlobalMarineNet and MailASail (on repayment) can provide Grib data using email. These are all suitable for low bandwidth communications.

Many computer generated charts for world wide met can be found at Georg Mueller's site at Karlsruhe University  The Swiss Westwind site is another good source of synoptic charts.

WindGuru, a Czechoslovakian site providing met across the globe aimed at wind surfers, and most other commercially available sources of wind vectors in numeric or graphical format use the US GFS mode. Predictions are often available for up to 7 days for specific locations across the world.

WORLD WIDE MET INFORMATION FOR THE OCC

Return to Contents List

The subject of weather prediction has always been one to attract the close interest of seamen. This article is mainly concerned with weather forecasting in European Waters, but a fair number of the sources mentioned have world-wide applicability.  

I hope to broaden the scope of this summary to cover Met across the world on the OCC Web and would urge members to e-mail me at cis@oceancruisingclub.org with Met sources they find useful wherever they are making passage so that I may improve this briefing note. I would remind members that the same forecast can often be obtained at several URLs and would ask that duplication be avoided as far as possible.

This site may help us to understand how many channels now exist to obtain what is often, basically, the same information.

Observational data exchanged between nations come from land stations, ships and fixed buoys at set times and from drifting buoys, aircraft and satellites at varying times. Nowadays the majority of such data is from satellites. Weather predictions can be displayed as basic products straight off a super computer; or as interpretations by expert meteorologists. Frank Singleton's suggestion is that one should try to use forecasts from at least two independent sources. But human input is only useful for the first 1-2 days. If the forecasts agree, the predictions are probably fairly reliable. If they do not, be aware of the uncertainly. Frank gives a Quick Guide on which forecast to use.

BASIC FACTS ABOUT WEATHER PREDICTION IN 2007

Return to Contents List

Some basic facts need to be born in mind. The needs of a day sailor are well served by many free sources of information mainly through the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). All these suffer from the fact that the computer models are run several hours after the Met data was observed. For instance, weather observations are made at midnight but the earliest forecasts on VHF using the data would not be until say 4 or 5am. However, the forecaster does take latest actual data into account when he writes the forecast. That forecast could then be used for the next 6 to12 hours. For this reason, some of us, such as competitive ocean racers, may need to directly download real time data from passing satellites to be able to improve predictions of the timing of the arrival of a front or the onset of a sea breeze. One source of satellite images for UK waters is at Dundee Satellite Receiving Station. Satellite derived sea level wind data can be obtained from QuikScat  in many areas of the world by selecting an area and then a buoy and looking at the link "Latest Satellite Wind Map for this Area".

Met forecasts are updated on a regular basis, up to four times a day. On the global scale, Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models work on a 1/3 rd degree sized 3 dimensional grid. The output for several days ahead are usually available on a 1/2 degree grid. This means that any weather system smaller than about 100 miles across may not show up, so beware local "unpredicted" squalls. The UK Met Office runs a global prediction model with a 20NM (~1/3^rd degree) resolution every 6 hours. The raw output from the computer is subjected to human interpretation to assess anomalies, such as the possibility of incorrect data reports or lack of certainty in the computer output. For instance, the incorrect reporting of barometric pressure from a ship in a critical position could cause major anomalies in the computer prediction. Predictions at this global level of detail may give good information several days (say 5 or 6) in advance.

For local, short period use near land, the grid is smaller but the interface between air, sea and land is more difficult to model. The UK Met Office regional model is at 6NM resolution for the North Atlantic and the UK model at 2NM resolution. Local effects may not appear if smaller than 4 times the resolution, so the Solent, off the Isle of Wight, is too small an area to receive a precise forecast. All these ‘meso' scale models sound very good. The problem with all is the data input and their ability (or lack of it) to model small scale weather. Private companies tend not to understand (or ignore) the limitations and run the models too far ahead. In the case of ProGRIB, they run their 0.02 degree resolution (less than 2 NM) model out to three days. Features that the grid length can, in principle, represent have a lifetime of a very few hours. The UK runs its NE Atlantic meso scale - 6 NM grid length model for up to 48 or so hours but never uses it beyond 36 hours and not always as far as that.

For these reasons, local knowledge and interpretation of the effect of local geographical features is still vital. The prediction of such information as the strength of the sea breeze in the Western Solent in Cowes Week needs the knowledge of an old salt who has spent his life in that area. But nowadays even he will pay attention to on line data from local on line stations such as Lymington, from the Bramble bank and from the Chichester bar. But, remember that the Shipping Forecast for the Solent Sea area also includes the thunder storms 60 miles away off Cherbourg!

Frank Singleton said that his rule of thumb was to allow plus or minus five knots to the wind forecast, and then bring in local considerations. A forecast of 5 to 6 actually means that he would expect winds up to7 at times and down to 4 at others. His own experience of being caught out in force 9 off Start Point in a ‘7 perhaps gale 8 later' forecast lead him to cross examine the forecaster responsible, only to conclude that given the data available, he would have made the same prediction!

MET DATA SOURCES

Return to Contents list

The following organisations in Europe run their own numerical weather prediction models: European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) and the National Weather Services of UK, France, Germany and Italy. So does a group of countries known as the HIRLAM group (Scandinavian and Low countries, Iceland, Ireland, and Spain). These centres run global NWP models but are more concerned with the next 24 - 48 hours ahead. They are more operational in their approach than ECMWF which looks up to 14 days ahead. Their models are likely to be optimised for their prime areas of interest. This is important; it means that the locally generated forecast is probably more reliable than one generated elsewhere. The USA also runs global NWP models but makes the output freely available in Gridded Information in Binary form (GRIB). See the links section at the end of this article for URLs for these independent computer models.

Frank Singleton advises ‘Each type of forecast has its own role and there is really very little duplication. VHF and NAVTEX should be regarded as essential because these are the systems put in place under the GMDSS for the dissemination of Marine Safety Information (MSI). In particular, they usually include the benefit of interpretation by a forecaster. Other sources provide longer term un-interpreted output from the weather models.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS

Return to Contents list

There are many sources of free forecasts for the next 24 hours broadcast or on the internet. There are also links to actual data on the internet. See Frank Singleton's Internet Links and the web links section at the end of this article.

Information for the next 24 hours including national shipping forecasts on the radio, VHF, NAVTEX and the web, are given on sources such as Marinecall which gives free text for the UK shipping forecast for inshore waters and provides other services, including very useful telephone services, on repayment. 

The output of high resolution models (do not trust these beyond 36 hours). Examples available on the web are WindGuru using the MM5 model output for localised reports, and ProGRIB using the NMM model. Other such sites are Theyr.net, Theyr.tv and Buoyweather.

Twenty four hour Predictions are available world wide free on NAVTEX 518 with an extended outlook (UK NAVTEX 490 only), refreshed every 12 or 24 hours.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR EXTENDED PERIODS

Return to Contents List

For UK Waters the Met Office Marinecall weather service is useful to provide an extended forecast for up to ten days ahead. This service is available on payment by telephone, fax and mobile or over the internet. Twice daily sailing forecasts are also available for France, North and West Spain and Portugal.

Predications are available out to 5 or more days ahead using GRIB data. Free sources of this include the recently developed Ugrib viewer using FTP, from a US sailing group, SailDocs, free of charge, also free from or from a variety of subscription services such as ProGRIB and Movingweather.

Many text sources of Met, including GRIB, can be obtained by e-mail in small files over low bandwidth HF, mobile phone or satellite phone links. The GMDSS jcom pages are particularly useful. These give very quick downloads from a web page as do many of the links on Frank Singleton's GMDSS Sources page. 

Once you have a mobile or satellite phone internet connection, you can receive free text messages through SailDocs. Send an email to query@saildocs.com . Subject - anything. The message should read     send URL      of whatever web page you need. To receive a forecast, simply copy the address of a web page containing the forecast that you want. Be aware that some email providers, and AOL is one, add spurious charactres to email which may inhibit responses from Saildocs.

Other forecast pages can be taken from Frank Singleton's GMDSS page by right clicking on a named link from the dropdown frame copy the address by dragging and dropping. For example, right click on Shipping Forecast under METAREA 1 and see the link http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/shipping_printable.html. The message to Saildocs for the High Seas forecast form Met Area 1 would read 

Within minutes the reply email will contain the text of the web page stripped of all the extraneous information although with a few redundant characters. If you want a daily service, then send the message 'sub http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/shipping_printable.html days=N' to get the forecast once a day for N days. Put N=0 and the service will continue until you send a cancellation message.

This is a useful service where you want a text forecast on a regular basis but are using a mobile phone and wish to minimise telephone call times. This is considerably cheaper than looking at a web page with many graphics. (This works with most URLs. You can get the summary of BBC World service news headlines, the latest FTSE and other data cheaply in the same way. Send a blank email, subject Anything to info@saildocs.com  for details.)

MailASail also offer a text retrieval service as a loss leader for their data compression and email packages.

OCEAN ACCESS TO GMDSS SHIPPING FORECASTS

Return to Contents List

The NAVTEX international service is broadcast on 518kHz , always in English. NAVTEX on 490kHz is intended for national use in the local language. 490kHz is used for inshore waters forecast in UK. More details of NAVTEX are at Frank Singleton's NAVTEX Weather Broadcasts. If you are fitting a NAVTEX set, pay particular attention to siting the antenna so that it is clear of interference from other devices. Good results have been obtained by an antenna down below in the vicinity of the chart table! You may need to experiment out at sea to find the best position. Reception is not guaranteed in harbour. NAVTEX is intended for use from the fairway buoy out to about 250 NM.

The operational GMDSS JCOMM official web site provides the marine weather information broadcast via Inmarsat-C SafetyNET by all National Meteorological Services (NMS) appointed as Issuing Services within the framework of the WMO Marine Broadcast System for the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. Some information broadcast by NAVTEX is also included.

If you are a blue water sailor, INMARSAT-C is the NAVTEX equivalent. This costs £1750 - £2700 to set up. The snag is that data costs nearly £60 a Megabyte so there is great incentive to keep data files small. for example, using email GRIB messages.

Various national shipping forecasts are available over the internet and can be retrieved by low bandwidth text retrieval systems such as Saildocs (see above). Many national weather web sites are listed at the Links to Sources of Met Information section in this document.

The availability of wireless internet in many marinas and port areas facilitates high bandwidth browsing of weather web sites and the use of Skype to obtain met information over the phone.

OBTAINING WEATHER DATA OVER HF

Return to Contents List

However, some long distance sailors rely upon Weather Fax and Text weather forecasts transmitted over MF/HF SSB radio at scheduled times. Others use SSB e-mail services. There are several methods for sending and receiving emails using a laptop and SSB radio. One is the membership owned SailMail with a fee of about $250 pa. Another, which is only available to radio amateurs (Hams) is Winlink and is free. Both require the same messaging programme called Airmail which can be downloaded free. Both have daily time limits on the air. Winlink is about 30 mins, which is a large number of emails. SailMail is about 10 minutes. Winlink 2000 is an improved service, offering a catalogue of prepared e-mail messages. See Frank Singleton's Winlink Weather Site page.

AirMail WeatherFax Companion is a free weatherfax program for Windows  written by Jim Corenman (the author of AirMail).  Its substantial advantage (beyond the attractive price) is that it can remote control your radio according to a schedule of preprogrammed times and frequencies (assuming you have a radio with a supported interface e.g. Icom 710).  It uses the radio setup settings from AirMail and so is convenient to set up.  It also has the outstanding capability to view GRIB weather data, which you can retrieve from the SailDocs system or any other source of grib data.

Using HF SSB, and depending on propagation, the quality of your radio installation, especially grounding system, the type of equipment used and the distance from the station, members are able to send and receive internet email for example an email message that could fit on one half of a type-written page would take 2 to 90 seconds to transfer. See Frank Singleton's Emails by HF Radio for further details of HF access to Met.

The decision on whether to fit HF SSB or a satellite phone is complex. In our seminar we were advised to go for the satellite phone if starting from scratch, but if you already have SSB you have access to free broadcast services across much of the world and of course can join OCC local nets! Some blue water sailors have and will use both, especially HAM systems and Winlink.

USING MOBILE PHONES TO OBTAIN MET DATA

Return to Contents List

A mobile phone is obviously only useful close to the coast, but the range can be increased by fitting an external antenna (typically up to 10 - 20 miles) and cost reduced by using the General Packet Radio System (GPRS) service and configuring the computer to send and receive text only at maximum data compression. You can check for coverage on GSM Operators, Coverage Maps and Roaming Information.

SmartCom  can provide SmartCom e-mail out and MailASail e-mail in, software to optimise computer settings for low bandwidth communications. OnSpeed is recommended for data compression for ISPs who use standard protocols (AOL users may have problems using OnSpeed).

You also have to tell the computer that your mobile phone is pretending to be a modem, unless you fit a plug in a substitute phone to your computer, which may involve an expensive contract. You also need to select an Internet Service Provider who supports low bandwidth communication and has a global presence. Look for the following features: points of presence in many countries for land lines and mobile phones, access numbers work when called from abroad or over a mobile or satellite phone, Web mail available for use in Cyber Cafés, spam filtering and virus checking, standard protocols - not AOL, support for slow connections - not CompuServe, and good technical support. See Frank Singleton's Mobile 'Phone to Laptop Connection page for guidance on setting up a mobile phone to laptop connection.

Bluetooth is recommended for the linkage between the computer and mobile but various hard wiring options are available, some using serial to USB connectors. If you do this, use a separate serial to USB connector for each device! It may help if you increase the server time-out settings on your PC. An advantage with Bluetooth is that the handset can be put higher - even in a bucket a few metres up the mast for better reception. You may need to disable Skype, Windows messaging and anti virus software. Getting all this set up for your mobile and lap top is good for hours of endless fun!  

Return to Contents List

There are two recommended means to obtain long range forecasts over low bandwidth links. One is Ugrib to give File Transfer Protocol (FTP) access to GRIB data and the other is using the Saildocs data retrieval service to give access to any met data which is freely available on the web.

Ugrib
Return to Contents List

This new service is a GRIB style service that is free and combines the best attributes of the generic service from SailDocs and the ease of access provided by Movingweather by using FTP. The available data are winds, isobars and rain areas only and from the US GFS (Global Model). So, no great detail, just good large scale forecasts.

The starting point is to download the free combined data retrieval and viewer software from the US Grib site. The download is about 2.5 mb, a little larger than with Saildocs but much less than other services. Having run the program you then have all the necessary software on your computer.

To obtain data you hit "Download GRIB File", and your system will send s short message requesting the data.  Files are downloaded to the folder of your choice. The file will then open automatically in the viewer.

Area selection is on-screen and is extremely easy and precise. It is extremely flexible in that users can select time and grid spacing of the data from 3 to 24 hourly and 1/2 or 1 degree. At present the data available are wind, pressure and precipitation. There is an screen indication of the file size.

Very usefully, it is possible to restrict the file size.  Basically, the software gives a sample of data with your selected element and time interval.   It is as flexible as SailDocs and easier to use than email services  It is much more flexible than several other systems, free or commercial  The data are displayed instantly on the very clear viewer and are always saved for future use or with another viewer if required.  Requests are replied to within a very short time scale, less than a minute. It is said to be suitable for us with Iridium as well as GSM or GPRS telephones.  Like several other services, it is still subject to further development and the providers will be interested to know of problems. There is a French language version and a German one is planned. See  Frank Singleton's The Ugrib Service for further details.

Via SailDocs
Return to Contents List

GRIB data is one of the most important global sources of met. This is available free at ½  degree 3 hour resolution of wind and pressure for 120 or more hours ahead. GRIB files are the standard file format displayed by many chart plotters. For instance MaxSea and Raymarine plotters decode GRIB data. It is download numerical data which is faster than images. You may use tools like Saildocs or download from sites like Raymarine Navcenter or download you own GRIB viewer, for instance, Digital Atmosphere costs $89. 

Saildocs viewer is called AirMail WeatherFax Companion and is free. It is very easy to use but has rather crude topography.

A GRIB forecast may be obtained using SailDocs by e-mail. This is free apart from communications costs ie to SailMail or your mobile phone company. To be able to get and view GRIB forecasts from the USA, first download program files and follow instructions on the site. You will need to install a Viewfax data viewer.

To get Viewfax download the Viewfax viewer by going to the Airmail's Weather Fax Companion page and looking for the paragraph headed Grib/Fax Viewer. There will be a "Click here to download Viewfax" . A Grib/Fax Viewer is included with Airmail downloads.  Viewfax is licensed without charge for non-commercial use, see the included “readme” file.  The Airmail viewer is available to view grib weather-data files as well as most graphics image files (including wefax images).

Request forecasts by sending an email similar to the following: To: query@saildocs.com ; Subject: any; Text: sub grib:45N,60N,20W,10E|2,2|12,24,36,48,50,72,96,120|winds days=4. This is a request to Saildocs for a forecast each day for 4 days for an area 45 to 65 N, 20 W to 10E, for the times indicated. The times are hours from midnight. The winds are requested at 2 degree latitude longitude intervals. You can get 1 x 1 or ½ x ½ degree but the attachment in the reply will be 4 or 16  times as long when it comes back. To request this service for an indefinite time then put days=0. If the word "winds" is omitted then you will get forecast winds and isobars. The attachment to the reply would be longer by a factor of 1.5. The reply will come every morning and will be in your mailbox by 0630 UTC, Putting the word "send" instead of "sub" and omitting "days=4" results in only one forecast, but it will arrive within minutes.

Globalmarinenet offers a very similar service to Saildocs although their files seem to require Maxsea and some other Viewers but cannot be used with Viewfax. Send a blank email to gmngrib@globalmarinenet.net for details. A more limited service is from MailASail.

PASSAGE PLANNING AND WEATHER ROUTING

Return to Contents List

For longer passages, ocean weather routing is fine if you can go fast enough to avoid weather systems. This probably requires a passage making ability of say 200 miles or more a day. At 100 miles a day the weather router can warn of impending bad weather but there may not be a lot you can do to get out of the way; but at least you can change down in good time. The weather router has access to the same data as everyone else, but a lifetime's experience of interpreting it and, best of all, his input may be available by voice on HF radio.

Weather routing software is now available from companies such as Maxsea, SeaPro, Deckman and Neptune to calculate the quickest route to sail. These take into account your boat's polars, tidal streams / ocean currents and forecast winds (GRIB) and suggest your optimal route.

Passage planning tools are available for longer voyages providing routing to plan passages taking into account historical records of ocean currents, water temperature and heavy seas. One such is Digital Wave . An OCC member has evaluated this and his report is available in Flying Fish.

CLIMATE RESEARCH

Return to Contents List

Those planning extended cruises, especially in tropical waters, will need to obtain historical records of the length of the tropical storm season and tracks of storms, to enable them to plan cruises avoiding the hurricane and cyclone risk. It is known that El Nino affects the pattern of tropical storms. Using the following sites it would be possible to study, for instance the affect of El Nino on the tropical storm pattern. The Hadley Centre for Climate prediction includes historical tracks of tropical cyclones.  . The following link is for a US Met Site covering El Nino.

THE FUTURE FOR MARINE DATA COMMUNICATIONS BY SATELLITE

Return to Contents List

The MIDAS project aims to provide a one-stop marine information service that will deliver via the Internet, direct to a sailor's PC, PDA or on-board information system, up-to-date information on actual wind speed and direction and wave height as measured by satellite. This information will be closely integrated with navigation charts and forecast information, including GRIB data, on general weather, winds, waves, tides, and currents on a pay-as-you-go basis or on subscription. The core system is now developed and available to users; data is free for the first year.  See The European Space Agency site for the objectives and anticipated achievements of MIDAS.  Have a look at Smartcom for a free download of the beta release of SmartMet which will give access to MIDAS data. The web site access to the weather data is live and operational - people can either select the MIDAS Weather link from the Smartcom web site, or if they go to Midas, then click on Service, and then click on "The MIDAS Web Client service can be accessed here". The beta version of Smartmet using MIDAS data is available for free download from both these sites.

The EU funded ALIS project, sponsored by Galileo, should result in the next couple of years in better availability of broadcast met information from satellites and a less expensive satellite communication device. The main aim of ALIS is to develop a trial service for location-based services in the marine sector. The user will require a Galileo/GPS receiver and a communications device. The project team are looking for potential users to try out the system. See ALIS option on Smartcom . This project is dependant on obtaining some degree of private finance. Return on investment needs to be clarified in view of free existing US sponsored services.

LINKS TO SOURCES OF MET INFORMATION

Return to Contents List

Global Sites.

These are legion!

Meteosail is well organised and clearly set out set of links to sites across the globe. Most titles are in English although the site owners are German.   

The swiss Westwind site  is another good source of global synoptic charts.

Europe Wide

Westwind is a searchable database of all European data.The "National" section provides forecasts from official national sources. Click on HIRLAM for 48 hour animated pictures of fronts, wind etc. The HIRLAM group consists of Scandinavian and Low countries, Iceland, Ireland, and Spain.

Click on W.UNDERGRUND for a Portal into European National Weather services and Global Maritime weather or use this direct link  W.UNDERGRUND

United Kingdom

The UK Met Office provides free five day forecasts for UK locations at  which also gives access to texts of marine forecasts for the METAREA I, North Atlantic, Offshore (Shipping) and Inshore Waters. The  Marinecall site provides free access to more detailed inshore forecasts and longer range predictions on repayment/subscription.

The BBC Weather Service has good UK Shipping and Inshore Waters forecasts and Atlantic Pressure charts for the UK but World-wide weather information is not detailed enough for nautical use. There are also texts of the 3 - 5 day outlook as broadcast on NAVTEX 518 kHz and a "Coastal" forecast. The latter is an objectively produced forecast in 6 hour slots.

WeatheronLine gives up to 6 day (10 on subscription) objectively produced general and wind forecasts for places in UK and France. (Gives hourly over 48 hrs on subscription)

The UK North West Venturers Yacht Club  links to on line weather resources, including ocean buoy reports for the North East Atlantic.

France

Météo France. For France the first 24 hours of met is free. Longer periods are available by subscription. For quick downloads of texts of French Inshore waters forecasts see Frank Singleton's METAREA1 AND METAREA2 pages.  

The JCOMM official web site provides the marine weather information broadcast via INMARSAT-C SafetyNET by all National Meteorological Services (NMS) for the GMDSS. Some information broadcast by NAVTEX is also included.

Monaco

The forecasts from Monaco (3AC) on SSB and VHF Ch 20 start with a broadcast in French. This is followed by the announcer clarifying the forecast to callers calling first on SSB then on VHF. The forecast is then repeated in English (except at 1403 LT).

Iceland

Iceland. (Theyr) Provides high resolution forecasts through a six hourly simulations for 3 days ahead. Wind strength shown in colours. Not good over low bandwidth links. See also METAREA1

Germany

Germany. Deutscher Wetterdienst Free text sea area forecasts out to 72 hours in German. 

5 day Deutscher Wetterdienst forecasts in text for the Nordsee and Ostsee   

Italy.

A free, text forecast for the day and high bandwidth charts for the next 4 days on Servizio Meteorologicio.  It is in English and Italian on the same page, side by side.  It is the not always helpful text as used on their Ch 68 quasi continuous broadcast and on NAVTEX. I am advised that this is not a particularly good service.

Written in Italian,Circolo Nautico "V. Migliori"  gives good links to sites around the world. Click on Météo.

Portugal

Instituto de Meteorologica gives 3 day forecast in Portuguese and English including the Azores and Madeira   

Spain

Prediccioies Meteorologicas Gives 5 day forecast for locations in Spanish and text maritime forecast. 

Croatia

Greece

Forecasts over Greece is an easy to use, especially if you can read Greek is at Simply click on locations on the map. Also the Poseidon site which is in English.

Turkey

Meteoroloji Isleri Genel Mudurlugu

Malta

Malta International Airport

For weather reports for land based weather stations worldwide see The Nationanl Weather Service   

The Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center for numerous links to their charts worldwide.   

The US Navy site has a number of products of interest to sailors. One very useful product is a set of charts giving isobars and wind vectors.  

NOAA Ocean Prediction Center gives Atlantic and Pacific Analysis.   

Caribbean

Caribbean Weather Centre. A  list of  HF Reports Caribbean Offshore Weather HF Broadcasts is held on the OCC site.

Australasia and New Zealand

Other Sources 

And, of course, there are very many links and other marine meteorological information at Frank Singleton's site. 

Return to Contents List

Last Updated (Monday, 9^th April 2007 )