I am a Predict Wind user. I have quite a few sources for met and still have Pocket Grib, weather track and Weather4d to name a few but don't use them much anymore. Have also used some products from Ocens in the past but I find that Predict Wind is now my "go to".
This is simply because in most cases, it is a one stop shop. Many "free" Grib Apps are just pulling data from a
single source, most commonly, the GFS model. With Predict Wind, you are accessing four different gradient wind models. One from the US, ( GFS ) one from
Europe ( ECMWF ) and two higher resolution models from Predict Wind themselves. It is also bringing in wave and swell data, pressure, precipitation data and CAPE. I find the CAPE very useful for considering the potential of convective activity and the potential intensity of squalls as the sun goes down. They have routing and departure planning features which will either provide a
route, or a re-route, based on an avoidance I have predetermined, like winds above 25 kts and waves above 4 meters. It can plan a departure window based on similar features and pre-determined comfort levels. Admittedly, you can also do this planning yourself but it is a nice feature nonetheless. In the case of a re-route, it provides waypoints and Lat Long data which you can now use to navigate away from or around a weather event you wish to avoid.
The other thing I really appreciate, is that I don't need to rely just on the GRIBS because I can also bring in the GMDSS for the region I am in. Now I can read what an actual meteorologist has to say and how they interpret the data. Then I can compare that and the the four different GRIB models. If they are all similar, I have pretty high confidence in the forecast. If they are not, I dig a little deeper to try to understand why. I can also get a
satellite picture but would rather have access to surface analysis maps and the 500mb map. This is not available right now.
Due to their
compression, I can get it all with a SAT
phone or
Iridium Go. If using an
SSB, it is all done with a
single email. If I am ashore, I can get all of this with just the weakest of
Wifi or cell signal.
I have nothing to do with Predict Wind, not associated with them in any way and was actually quite miffed that they came out with this discount right after I renewed my subscription but I can say that I am happy with their product and FWIW, the one time I contacted them with a question, their support team was back to me immediately with the answer and again a day later with a follow up, just to make sure all was good. That is a rarity today.