Marine Weather Forecast

[4x15mph]

What do others use to check the weather, tides, and marine forecast when planning for a trip?

Also, what iPhone app(s) do you recommend for navigating while on the water? I have heard people mention Navionics. Is that what I should download or are there others that you would recommend.

I am going for my first Chesapeake Bay voyage tomorrow. I understand this will be a tough ride in the LS2000

 

[Gumbeaux]

navionics works ok for me. Obviously I prefer a real plotter etc but for iPhones and iPads navionics is viable.

For weather I always check the noaa marine forecasts and also their weather buoys for real time conditions. There are also some sites that aggregate many sources ie Fryingpantower.com reef cast.com or many local marina sites. I really like reefcast but it has been down for the last 12-24 hours...not sure why.

Weather.noaa.gov
ndbc.noaa.gov National Buoy Data Center

Was supposed to take the kids king mackerel fishing today (not on the Yamaha) but a small craft advisory is keeping us on the hill.

 

[biglar155]

I usually use this one: http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/code.cgi?Submit=Go&sta=KOSH&state=WI

Select your state and location, then save the link and it will always take you to your local forecast instantly.

 

[Kevin107]

Weather underground for iPhone is what use.

 

[Gym]

Most, if not all marine radios have a weather button which will give you current and forecast marine weather. If you're planning any trips an on board marine radio is a must have.

 

[Bruce]

I use the SailFlow app for water conditions and Navionics for navigation. Here is a screen capture from yesterday.

 

[tdonoughue]

I use the VHF radio. Both my fixed and portable have weather, so I use the portable one on the way to the lake and monitor at the lake with the fixed on on craft...

 

[davel501]

If you are near a major airport look for their TDWR (Terminal Departure Weather Radar). Just learned about it the other day. It is much more accurate than the NOAA radar. We had cold air funnels due to a boundary between summer and Lake Michigan air just west of O'Hare (ORD). You could see them on the ORD TDWR but not on the NOAA. Here is the map on Wunderground: http://www.wunderground.com/weather-radar/united-states/il/chicago-o-hare/ord/

Good radar data + a VHF with weather radio to tell you to look at it is your best bet.

 

[4x15mph]

Thank you for all of the great links and suggestions.

We ventured out and boated on the Chesapeake Bay down in Maryland. This was our first time out on the bay and it was incredible. We had great food at a couple of stops on the water and the boat made cruising up the coast seem like short trips. Havre de grace, Charlestown, and Northeast parts of Maryland were our stopping points.

It was a pretty calm day which proved to be very manageable in our boat. I can imagine that with as large as this bay is, the winds, and the traffic this could get rough but it was perfect today. The boat was awesome.

One pic of a happy kid and a few others in my albums -

 

[davel501]

This was Chicago overnight. This is the ORD TDWR with Wunderground storm tracks. The purple triangles are vortex signatures. Derecho tonight but it seemed to split north and south of my house. The thing is producing its own weather so there are more thunderstorms developing behind it. Glad I am not out on the water.

 

[tdonoughue]

Yes, I do radar from Weather Underground and Weatherbug Elite. The storm tracks on Wunderground are really notable. Love those. Weatherbug Elite has a lightening tracker. I recommend them both.