What Is The Best Online Interactive Wind And Current Model Website?

[Mikado]

Hello CF,

I have been looking at NASA's ocean motion website and find the wind and current interactive maps fascinating but from what I can see it is not really what I am looking for.

I am trying to find a similar wind and current map of the world that I can look at specific regions in detail and see how the wind and currents historically change month to month as an aid to passage planning.

For example, although the Gulf wind and currents from the Yucatan Peninsula to the tip of Florida are very strong from West to East I have read that there is a narrow band along the north coast of Cuba that runs east to west, but the interactive maps I have see don't show that level of detail.

The ones I have seen seem to be focused on the global warming debate which I think might be skewing their data. I have found another site called Earth, A Global Map of Wind and Weather but can't get it to download.

Any suggestions on interactive current and weather websites for passage planning?

Thanks,

Jeff

[TheOffice]

Tried

www.windyty.com?

[paulajayne]

Originally Posted by TheOffice

Tried

www.windyty.com?

+1 from me

[goat]

I like this one;

earth :: a global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditions

goat

[goat]

Originally Posted by TheOffice

Tried

www.windyty.com?

Agreed, this one is better for forecasting. The one I linked to I only shows current wind.

goat

[belizesailor]

MyOcean has extensive current, and other oceanographic, data available in GRIB format. Some GRIB viewers/weather routing software will download directly from MyOcean. That, combined with wind data in GRIB format can be used to create a display of both. For example, SailGRIB WR (Android) will do that.

marine.copernicus.eu/

NOAA maintains historic archive data, but its tedious to access.

[sartorst]

There is a lot of good info on pilot charts which can be accessed throu many sorces

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by sartorst

There is a lot of good info on pilot charts which can be accessed throu many sorces

Recently while digging around for easier ways to process NOAA historic data, I ran across someones site who was working on creating similar end product using more recent data and output in GRIB format, dont recall the site, but updated Pilot Chart like info in GRIB format would be very useful for route planning.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by goat

Agreed, this one is better for forecasting. The one I linked to I only shows current wind.

goat

Is there a way to change dates on windyty? I dont see it, at least not on the mobile interface.

One really cool thing you can do with it is visualize upper level winds. For example, take a look at upper level winds around the storm now in the N Atlantic. Great visualization of how these winds steer weather features.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Mikado

...

I am trying to find a similar wind and current map of the world that I can look at specific regions in detail and see how the wind and currents historically change month to month as an aid to passage planning.

...

Traditionally, these are know as "Pilot Charts" (as referenced in some of the posts already)

You can download them here:

msi.nga.mil/NGAPortal/MSI.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=msi_portal_page_6 2&pubCode=0003

The OpenCPN crew has converted them to BSB format so you can easily load into OpenCPN and other nav apps.

opencpn.org/ocpn/pilotcharts

Jimmy Cornell's Ocean Atlas is essentially an updated version of Pilot Charts.

cornellsailing.com/publications/cornells-ocean-atlas/

[jmiller148]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Is there a way to change dates on windyty? I dont see it, at least not on the mobile interface.

One really cool thing you can do with it is visualize upper level winds. For example, take a look at upper level winds around the storm now in the N Atlantic. Great visualization of how these winds steer weather features.

You can change dates in the pulldown on the right. On my tablet if I put it in landscape I can see the days at the bottom of the screen. It does not do this on my phone though.

[zeehag]

i used windy ty and found the projections are wrong. hurricane in lost angeles?? puleeeze. passage weather is much more accurate.
googlle earth wind is a good site, more accurate as it doesnt send hurricanes to california, where they do not go.
if you gonna use an alleged prediction site, might as well use an accurate one. windy ty is not that.

[tdoster]

Originally Posted by TheOffice

Tried

www.windyty.com?

+1 The guy who programmed this and apparently receiving no money has gone way and above and any support I can pass his way... What I like about what he has done is a simple graphical representation that is fast and coded well. It is also praised on the flying forums as he has represented all flight levels equally well.

[tdoster]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i used windy ty and found the projections are wrong. hurricane in lost angeles?? puleeeze. passage weather is much more accurate.
googlle earth wind is a good site, more accurate as it doesnt send hurricanes to california, where they do not go.
if you gonna use an alleged prediction site, might as well use an accurate one. windy ty is not that.

He is using Meteoblue and NOAA as a graphical representation of their data and predictions.

I am not certain of where Google is getting the data, but you can surmise it is from the same places. I have found both fairly represent NOAA data streams. Though the process and the web services are not perfect - frequency of updates, missed data returns and representations, fifteen to twenty year-old technology on the feeds and web services to parse, etc., and regardless of the source, it is more of a guide and less of an actual prediction of what the weather will be like.

Offshore, the best data is current and 24 hours, much beyond that, the odds go way up and the predictions are based upon the models programmed.

The best source we have ever experienced is using Chris Parker and Marine Weather Center en route.

[s/v Beth]

One vote for the GRib's and if you don't like that (KISS data) sailflow. It gives me approx wave height and other things all condensed. Their models seem to be accurate for a few days .