checking weather for out in the water

[brooksville_rebel]

Is there a good place for checking weather out on the water ? When I check weather.com and Weather Undergroud just seems like I can't get the weather forecast off shore. I am 40 miles N of Tampa and 40 miles S of Crystal River, in Spring Hill Fl.
We will have hurricane rains at the house and the boat which is 8 miles from the house wet docked doesn't get a drop. Other times its the opposite. Boat is poured on and house doesn't get a drop. We like to go out as much as possible and this Florida rainy season plays heck with those plans.

 

[Bubbasboat]

http://www.wunderground.com/q/zmw:34604.3.99999

takes you right there

 

[GA_Boater]

This time of year in the South, most days have at least a 10% chance of precip because of pop-up storms. The other day, no rain on the radar and a pop-up developed right over us and dropped an inch. 5 miles away, all sun. On Underground the Wundermap is good because you can put it in motion and zoom - Good for fronts. Sometimes a local paper has coastal conditions and forecasts.

 

[brooksville_rebel]

http://www.wunderground.com/q/zmw:34604.3.99999

takes you right there

Thanks but not really. 34607 is Hernando Beach and thats were water starts. I don't want Spring Hill. It could be hurricane rain there and sunny and dry in the water.
I want the forecast out in the water. Theres no zip code out there. I kinda found one on underground weather. Will have to see how well it does.

 

[dingbat]

I gave up on weather services long ago. Too many localized anomalies for a canned forecast. The Weather Channel and Weather Underground are the absolute worst. No clue.

NOAA has far better forecasts http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/data/Forecasts/FZUS52.KTBW.html

Spend the time to learn local weather patterns. Learn the dynamics of the prevailing winds on the water. Lots of real time buoy data accessible on line. Collect all the info you can and make the call.

There is no way to forecast pop-up storms. Pop-ups are normal daily occurrence. If I didn't go boating when they are in forecast I might as well sell the boat.Buy a good rain suit and go boating.

 

[midcarolina]

Try this site link is below.........When I lived in Charleston there was a NOAA number to call, but that has been years ago, and may not apply today.
The page I linked to seems to be nice, there is a free and paid version.

 

[phillyg]

I use The Weather Channel and Accuweather but in FL at this time of year I rely more on radar since there's so many cells. I'd never heard of "popup" T-Storms till I moved here.

 

[Bubbasboat]

http://www.buoyweather.com/wxnav6.js...L&program=Maps

Midcarolina, way better than my suggestion, unfortunately it won't work in my area. Our water is not large enough for the program to work. I tried it in custom location setting.

 

[r.j.dawg]

We have had good luck with Windfinder. When it gets real humid we get popups and the only warning for them is the Weather Network radar.

 

[Chris1956]

Marine radios usually have 5 channels of 24 hour marine forecast info. They generally give a forecast out to 20 NM offshore.

 

[Scott Danforth]

use NOAA.gov like dingbat indicated. weather.com and weather underground really do not cut it. get a marine radio with marine weather. get a cell phone that you can watch the radar on noaa.gov

and remember 40% rain in Florida isnt a 40% chance of rain. it is that over the surface of Florida, it is raining in 40% of it

Pop-ups are bad in Florida for two reasons. first, it is a peninsula so you have warm and cold air fronts colliding east/west. it is also located at the shear of the two jet streams. if you take both of this into account, you notice that most storms start just off of Tampa or near Orlando and can appear in minutes.

if your going to be 40 miles of shore, make sure you have enough bilge pumps on board to handle rain coming down at a rate of 8" per hour (for a 20' boat that is a minimum of 800 gph pump). many small craft rescues are boats that get caught in the rain and the bilge pumps get overwhelmed

 

[Texasmark]

I think in the summer down there and along the Gulf Coast proper you can expect the afternoon squalls with heavy rain, lightening and high winds. Happens on a daily basis so expect it and have a tolerance plan. They only last a few minutes which is nice. You can see them building up. Just gotta keep one eye on the sky. I don't see how any weather reporting activity can give you any help. They come and go so fast. Been caught out in them more than once. That's where I learned that lightening can strike several miles away and you can feel a tingle if you are touching metal that is in the water like your remote controls.

HTH,
Mark

 

[Scott Danforth]

Been raining most of the day every day this week except today.