Windy.app (blue) versus Windy.com (red) versus PredictWind

[wholybee]

One other thing, that i only really learned after many miles. The cape forecast. Higher cape values are increased chances of wildly varying conditions, squalls, and lightning. Very low cape values mean less variance from averages in the forecast.

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Avionics_Joe

Too Funny, I just got this email from PW saying they now have currents.

PredictWind has had three global current models for years. What they recently added was high resolution tidal currents that do a vector sum with the ocean currents so you can see how the tidal flows impact the forecast currents. Might be nice. Haven’t used it enough yet to see how useful it will be.

Even approximate tidal current flow would be nice in remote places where tide height gauges are very far apart, and tidal current information nonexistent.

[CaptainRivet]

Back to topic red versus blue windy.

I have lifetime blue windy pro subscription, was a black friday deal 2 years ago...happy with it.
First its a bit a mess and yoy have to get used to it and customize your screens. Well for the 30Euro i paid worth a little effort and its all you need then to get a good idea what weather situation to expect.
It gives you very nicely for a location a good overview of differnet models, the devations and i also like the graphical presentation of wind directions and forces.
Also like the weather chronic for the location so you can see what weather you can mainly expect.
Gives me also the big weather system and tracking of it so i see what to expect.
Means i got all relevant info what to expect.

Better are only local models and locals will tell you what to use eg canaries has in windguru a special canarian model based on all the shore weather stations and feedbacks from surfers and kiters.
All other doesn't matter if expensive predict wind or both windy's are often very wrong.

The red is a bit easier and gives you a better overview about weather for trips ashore.

[CaptainRivet]

Back to topic red versus blue windy.

I have lifetime blue windy pro subscription, was a black friday deal 2 years ago...happy with it.
First its a bit a mess and yoy have to get used to it and customize your screens. Well for the 30Euro i paid worth a little effort and its all you need then to get a good idea what weather situation to expect.
It gives you very nicely for a location a good overview of differnet models, the devations and i also like the graphical presentation of wind directions and forces.
Also like the weather chronic for the location so you can see what weather you can mainly expect.
Gives me also the big weather system and tracking of it so i see what to expect.
Means i got all relevant info what to expect.

Better are only local models and locals will tell you what to use eg canaries has in windguru a special canarian model based on all the shore weather stations and feedbacks from surfers and kiters.
All other doesn't matter if expensive predict wind or both windy's are often very wrong.

The red is a bit easier to use and gives you a better overview about weather for trips ashore. Regarding the forecasts red shows in average and gust on a location to expect while in blue you can get the same but additional you can compare the differnt models which has the advantage if they are close the likelyhood the weather will be like forecasted while if they differ greatly its vety uncertain but at least i know what to expect in best and worst case. The next 3-4days weather is, taken the above into account the best you can get, predict wind won't be more precise...
So blue pro subscription and red free is a good combo for costal or smaller offshore trips like Gibraltar to Canaries.

Real offshore crossing the atlantic predictwind is the way to go and standard subscription enough. Its good via starlink and in case SL is not working you can still use grib files via iridium go.
The big weather systems you can also see in Windy nlu.

[jalmberg]

None of the above. For my money, LuckGrib is the best weather app. Lots of models, great user interface, and very good weather routing. Integrated seamlessly with Iridium Go.

David Burch has many YouTube videos that illustrate its features.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...PZjK8C6zQMY2io

I’ve used it on the east coast of US, from Bahamas to Maine, on an Atlantic crossing, and in Europe from France to Scotland. Very happy with it.

[JSSailem]

My use of windy is not for "Route creation". I use the online browser pro version. It is weather display software with a nice GUI. You can plot way points within a 10day distance. Identify your boat speed, and the software will indicate the weather along your route. You can use different weather models to see what the WINDY algorithm will forecast the weather along your indicated route. It does not create a route for you. There are limits to the reliability of the forecasted weather. These limits are associated with the weather data you choose and the Windy algorithm will modify to display. To truly understand what the screen is showing you, it is essential to understand the limits of the data and how the software is using that data to create a forecast for you.

Reliability of the data being shown can be influenced by the region you sail. I sail in the PacificNW. Our weather patterns are fairly consistent based on seasonal changes. Windy forecast data, I feel, is good for about 7 days with a 60% probability. GFS data in Windy, I give 4 days @ 60%. That has been my experience in the waters I sail.

Recently I have been working with a friend doing an Atlantic Crossing. On the Northern route east, Windy was one of the tools used to maintain a macro picture of the Northern Atlantic.

In open water sailing, I have found LuckGrib to be a rather complete tool box for routing based on weather conditions. Weather forecasting is complicated. The tools in this software are as well and take some time to understand. The options and parameters set to get a repeatable weather routing solution require an investment of time by the user. The reward will amaze you. You can create a 1000 nm route across open water with tacking data in 15 minute increments. You can then select from several data free sources and compare the route. The software is very transparent, illuminating the different source weather data strengths and weaknesses. The data report includes the time the data was created. The software warns you if the wind data is old. I love that feature helps me know if I can go to lunch or only a brief coffee break before the next update.

I am only using the laptop version on a MAC. An iPad version is available but the results are less pleasing in my experience.

[billreilly]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

One of the many I looked at. I dropped it from consideration since it only uses the GFS model. That’s why it is cheap, the USA taxpayers give that data away for free.

Since the GFS model upgraded to version v16 a couple of years ago it has improved a lot. I find that it is as accurate as the ECMWF model and sometimes it performs better.


All weather models have their strengths and weaknesses, and for any given situation one will sometimes be better than the other.


I have been comparing many weather models over the years, and I now rate the GFS as probably the best global weather model. Yes, the GFS data is freely available, but that's a good thing, that shouldn't be viewed as a negative.


I'm a professional weather router and I usually find that the GFS model usually (but not always) performs the best.
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[SV Coronado]

As a full-time cruiser, I've sailed many miles with PredictWind and find it the best - although I'm always looking for better. Wholybee's comments about PW are spot on. I find their weather routing to be a good "recommendation." It's never perfect, and I'm always adjusting based on what I see on the ocean. I've used professional weather routers and they are not much better than the PW computers. I find the PWE/PWG models to have value around islands where they account for the lee of the land and the acceleration zones wrapping around the ends. The UKMO model is decent and reliable in the Med, and SPIRE is fine for longer stretches of ocean. As stated by billreilly, the latest version of the GFS model is pretty good. Last month, I completed a nine-day offshore passage from Norfolk, VA, to St Martin and the GFS model was the most accurate for that trip. Check the Validation tool on PW to see which model is performing well for your giving area.

Knowing the wind speed and direction is nice, but the sea state to me, is more important. I can reef down when the speed wind is high, but the danger lies in large, confused seas with short periods. Sea state slows the boat, makes it difficult to move around, and makes your crew sick. The roll and vertical acceleration data in PW at least make an attempt to quantify the effect of sea state on your passage. I haven't seen anything like this in another weather service.

[qwerme]

I love Weather4d it’s less expensive than predict wind and will take currents into account when computing the routing. It’s a fantastic app but it takes some getting used to, the UX is very… French engineer… it makes sense once you’ve gotten over the initial confusion

[Flobble]

Another vote for LuckGrib. I'm still finding my way around it, but it's a very sophisticated routing tool and well documented with many online tutorials.

[aberglas]

I actually use Fishranger.com.au for Australian costal sailing.


Cheap, it gives me a view for a location out several days. Shows both GFS (I think) and Australian BOM forecasts, the latter seem slightly better for Australia when they diverge.

[JSSailem]

I find it depends on where I am planning to sail.

I recently provided a weather resource to a fellow with a 42 ft sailboat who decided to cross the Atlantic on the northern route Nova Scotia to Ireland. There I used what I was familiar Windy Pro and NOAA Global GFS weather charts. We helped him avoid 2 major Atlantic storms that appeared during his crossing. One triggered a planed alternate route that ended in the Azores instead of Ireland. Good thing the storm ended up being 1000nm in diameter taking up most of the North Atlantic. Then on return from the Canaries to St Lucia, prior to his departure I spent about 60 days working with LuckGrib. It is a powerful package with excellent weather DATA resources. It provided routing that kept the boat in best wind pockets, away from storm fronts and out of wind lulls for 25 of the 27 day crossing. In open water sailing/cruising LuckGrib is an excellent tool.

[mojosailing]

I ause LuckGrib. It provides more detail and better big picture options than Predict Wind. I also use Predict Wind pro. Between the two I find I normally have a good handle on the weather for the sailing I do, full time, eastern US seaboard and the Bahamas.