We are often asked about weather forecasting apps and websites on our NSW licence courses.

Before we head out on the boat we want to check the weather, partly for comfort and partly for safety.

While we are out on the water, keeping an eye on the weather will keep us safe.

This article is just about the sources of information available to us, not what to do with it and how to interpret or use it!

There are a few very handy apps that also present their information on websites.

When asked which is the 'best', we generally give the following advice: Don't try to pick 'the best', use two or three of them and when they align, you can be confident in their predictions. When they dont align, understand that there is some uncertainty in the forecast models.

First, remember that these forecasts are just that, they are predictions of what might happen. The fine print on all of them explain that they may be wrong, and when they are right, their predictions of things like wind speed and wave height may be off by a long margin.

Bear in mind that you may not have mobile coverage when offshore or in a remote bay - in this case your VHF radio is a good source of weather. For example, in NSW, Marine Rescue reads the latest weather hourly - stay tuned to channel 16 to hear them announce which channel they are about to broadcast the latest weather updates.

In addition to the VHF radio, if we were to pick our three or four commonly used sources of weather information, they would include:

BOM:

One of the few services that create forecasts rather than just using other people's data and models. This doesn't really make them better or worse, we see them as the starting point of all trips. Almost like a baseline. Their marine forecasts are simple to read and available via a clickable regional map.


http://www.bom.gov.au/nsw/forecasts/map.shtml

Seabreeze:

A very useable app that combines wind, wave height, tides.

It will show you the forecast as well as realtime observations from several weather stations along your route allowing you to look ahead and see what is happening right now 10, 20 or 50 miles ahead or astern of you.

https://www.seabreeze.com.au/weather/wind-forecast/sydney

Predict Wind:

Possibly our favourite for planning passages.

This app allows you to put in start and end points and sailboat or powerboat information.

You can then 'play forward' what the wind and wave conditions are forecast to be as you progress along your predicted route

https://www.predictwind.com/

Willy Weather:

An app very similar to Seabreeze,

Some people prefer its presentation style as it layers the BOM forecast over the observed conditions so you can see how accurate the forecast has been so far today.

https://wind.willyweather.com.au/nsw/sydney/sydney.html