Marine Weather app

[Jule]

Does anyone have insight into what’s going on with the Marine Weather app (aka Buoy Weather)? Wind directions have been way off for several days now, even though info is apparently coming from NOAA. We’re using other apps now so no need for advice on those. Just curious because we liked Marine Weather while it was working.

 

[Blissboat]

Not familiar with the app you named, but that may be because every NWS local forecast office has a marine page with that data. Here's the page linked from my local Weather Service office here in Jacksonville: NWS Jacksonville, FL Marine Observations It's like getting your info wholesale, instead of going through a middleman.

 

[jayslu]

I like that analogy!

I, too, prefer to go to the NWS website for weather predictions, rather than relying on a third-party app to be up and running correctly.

 

[CaptTom]

You can set up a link to a web page on your phone's home page. Usually the browser has that option right on its menu. This is a good example of when to use that option. If you're getting data from NWS anyway, why bother with some third-party app (and their ads)?

 

[tpbrady]

I find the NWS forecasts misleading and in some cases downright dumb in SE Alaska. They pretend to give you a forecast for a location with a resolution of a few km. For example, you click on a location on the marine weather map, and it gives you a forecast for so many km from a place you never heard of. After clicking on several different places to get exactly the same forecast, I gave up on using the graphical page and then went searching for the the text forecast page for SE Alaska inside waters. They have divided that into zones based on the various straits. Ends up the forecast there is same as you get on the graphical page, except on the graphical page they pretend they are giving you a forecast for Ernest Sound when really they are giving you the forecast for Clarence St.

So for weather, I look at the NWS text forecast page, and then compare it to the various weather models in Windy. The most valuable thing in Windy is current observations from multiple sources which is something no one else does. With Starlink that is easy, and eliminates the need to listen to weather radio which in SE Alaska has poor coverage even when they work.

Tom

 

[SteveK]

Don't know your location. Having the same issue here with GOV forecasts and the windy app. I have gone from predictions to looking at live wind reports to determine what is happening.

 

[tpbrady]

Steve,

I agree completely, the real observations are more important than the forecast, especially if you can look at observations from multiple locations. Windy does that and other weather apps probably do that. NWS doesn't do that on their website, and listening to the radio is an exercise in futility.

Tom

 

[Blissboat]

NOAA's data buoys and land-based observation stations are selectable on Jacksonville's NWS site using a graphical map image, and they report data current to within the past 30 minutes (I just checked). For my go / no-go trip planning purposes, that's sufficient.

 

[tpbrady]

Windy includes ship reports in their observations which is helpful when fixed observation sites miss hourly updates, something that happens all to frequently.