How to know wind predictions.

[Paterson00]

Hi there,

I am new to boating and would like to know more about finding out what the winds are predicted to be. I am a motor boater rather than sailor but dont hold that against me yet..

I was told about this website today that tells you the winds for the week and I would like to know, when looking a the wind speed of say 7 kts and gust of 9 kts, presumably that is saying that the constant is 7 and gusting up to 9 rather than it being constant 7 and gusting up to 16 (7 + 9)

Windfinder - Wind & weather forecast Mandurah Estuary

I would like to know this infromation as I am new to boating and do not have a lot of experience, I do not wnat to get caught out in weather I cannot handle so any help could save lives here..

Many thanks

Paul

 

[tpenfield]

Re: How to know wind predictions.

Yes, wind gust up to 9kts (not 16) (but you can hardly call that a gust) . . .

I find that even a day or 2 out, the wind predictions are less accurate, and would make general plans ahead of time, but always needed to check the day of an outing to be sure that the winds were favorable.

 

[southkogs]

Re: How to know wind predictions.

I agree - check your winds daily as opposed to weekly. Any weather outlet (I generally use weather.com) is decent for weekly guesses, but I like intellicast.com for details. I treat it like flying, and if you can pickup the daily forecast from the local airport even better. Winds are as important to pilots as they are to sailors.

Watch small craft advisories, and if you're particularly concerned build yourself some sort of TELL-TALE.