What's your favorite weather site?

[Steve-O]

So where is your first stop on the Internet to check the forecast?

[Jake]

I first check NOAA (pronounced No-Way) to see what they forecast as a upper limit for the winds. Then I check Windguru and Accuweather. I average the upper and lower wind forecast, then I take all my gear with me to be prepared for anything.

On Monday NOAA forecast the wind to be 15-20 knots and we got maybe 1 hour of riding in 10-15 knots until the wind died completely. With the screwed up weather patterns we've had, it seems that no one can get the forecast right, especially the timing of the fronts.

[Steve-O]

Yeah Monday was weird.

To keep with the thread, my first check is the NWS marine forecast for the Tampa Bay waters. That has always been a good indicator of possible wind to be looking out for.

Again not looking for tons of info, just curious to your first and favorite stop on the web.

[LSUkiter]

Weather.com (the weather channel). They're rarely right, but I check them out at the beginnning of the week to see the trends, and check individual days. If it looks like there's even a small chance of something, I start my in-depth research. But, my first easy place is them. If you want day to day accuracy, they're not the place to go. Their websites just easy to navigate when I'm rushing around

[Danimal8199]

Steve-O,

I usually check ikite when its up to get a general idea and then I look at accuweather.com for more details.

I also check NOAA (No-Way) as another reference. If something is going to happen 2 of those sites should show similarities.

Danny

[Steve-O]

NOAA. No Organization At All.

Any weather system is complex. One traveling over Gulf waters must be extremely hard to predict, especially timing and intensity. This past Monday was a classic skunk unless you surf. Those guys made out with the lack of wind inshore and howling swell offshore.

I Also don't pay much attention until the night before.

Keep em coming.

[Chad085]

i just sit in my lifeguard tower and wait for you assholes to ride by on downwinders:mad:

[Tony]

Here is another good one to use. Anything over 12 on this usually means it is rideable.

http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/code.cgi?Submit=Go&sta=KSPG&state=FL

[Finnian03]

weatherunderground

click marine at the top of it and then find the region which you're looking for wind. for the most part i think it's pretty accurate

[Whitey]

http://www.accuweather.com/us/fl/saint-petersburg/33712/forecast-hourly.asp?partner=accuweather&metric=0&hbhday=3&hbhhour=23

pain in the butt to navigate because you have to go to the hourly and then you only get 8 hours at a time but the data seems to be the best I have found.

[bryanleighty]

i have a "Wind" bookmark folder in my firefox bar with all the links from :

http://www.fksa.org/showpost.php?p=26171&postcount=3

I open all in tabs and try to get the best "overall" view of whats projected.

I can say that airnet is pretty accurate. its used by aviators so its gotta be using the best technology/wind info possible.

Obviously no one site should be your one-stop-shopping for this info. Use a combo of many.. also go back and review sites "projections" after a day on the water to get a real feel for accuracy.

[BigR]

NWS or NOAA is always a good first stop for the text forecast.

then,

www.magicseaweed.com (http://www.magicseaweed.com/)

is good sometimes for out 170 hrs, just navigate to "latest wind" for the gulf region.

ruc is also usually good for 72 hrs out.

http://ruc.noaa.gov/disp2.cgi?/w3/ra...2_surf_wind+se (http://ruc.noaa.gov/disp2.cgi?/w3/rapb/plots_13km_dev/.//+sa2_surf_wind+se)

as always, never quite predictable are:

ikitesurf

windguru

[C. Moore]

The one I use is most is Accu-Window. If the trees are blowing outside my office window and my fellow riders don't answer their phone, then I am going because I know they are already riding. :)

The best thing most of us do is check on all the websites and make our own accurate prediction or best guess, just like Josh Linker.

Try learning how to read weather patterns, understanding how High Pressure and Low Pressure with pressure gradiants work.

This might not be the best source for those maps but it's a start.
http://adds.aviationweather.gov/winds/

[Steve-O]

Big R
Those surface maps are nice. How do you know the time of each one?

[Steve-O]

Hey Chad!!!!

It blew like hell today!!!

Did you see us? It may have been before your shift.

[walleye]

When I first started last year, Steve-O suggested Sailflow. I don't hear many people talkin about it. The site information is easy to interpret through color charts and real time measurement graphs. I combine, http://www.sailflow.com/?regionID=149&regionProductID=29&timeOffset=0
with, http://www.baynews9.com/MarineForecast.html. These two sites usually do the trick.

[litewavedave]

If any Tampa area weather guru's would be so kind as to drop me a P.M. around Thursday so I could plan for a possible E.Beach manufacturer's demo on Saturday, I would appreciate the forecast.

I hate to show up if there's no wind....would LOVE to if there is. Unfortunately, i am trying to plan from California, so a little forecast would be very helpful.

-Litewave Dave
916.961.1117

[C. Moore]

Dave...
I doubt there will be any wind. Usually after a cold front high pressure builds back in and kills the wind, unless there is another reinforcing cold front coming but I don’t see one at the moment.

Chris

[Wildcat]

After living in Florida for 30+ years I feel the weather pro's there get it right much more often than the folks here in Colorado. Evidently the mtns. create all kinds of micro-climates. With that said I go here most of the time and it has been pretty accurate so far.
http://www.intellicast.com/National/Wind/WINDcast.aspx?location=USCO0105