Buoyweather, Weather Office, accuracy

[Secretpursuit]

Curious who uses what for weather forecasts & how accurate the predictions are? Been using Weather Office but find it's less than acceptable. Never used Buoyweather but hear others referencing it? May buck-up and give it a whirl. Many Thanks.

 

[harper44]

I've been using bouyweather for over a year now and really like the graphical features as well as the 7 day forecast. Nice having swell info and wind in the same data. Regarding accuracy, if you find something that accurately predicts wind more than 48 hours out, please let me know.

 

[Sculpin]

I joined buoyweather after Fishtofino put me onto it. It is accurate for the two day forecast which is all you can trust. I tried the free thing and after I joined the real data is different than the free just so ya know. The 7 day is neat to look at but in all reality you have to look the night before heading out and the morning of the trip. Just like anything else weather permitting lol.

I highly recommend buoyweather. The cost will seem like nothing after a season using it and enjoying some nice day's on the water. Environment Canada is history in my books.(although I do look at it still lol).

 

[Birdsnest]

I highly recommend buoyweather. The cost will seem like nothing after a season using it and enjoying some nice day's on the water. Environment Canada is history in my books.(although I do look at it still lol).

X2 and to still look at EC. Buoy weather does have its little glitches to watch for tho. Two examples I can think of is one day there was forcast for no wind but a 3 m at 15 second swell that should have been and was immaculate for fishing. It was flagged as yellow. Not a bit deal but a good understanding of weather and sea conditions goes a lot further than just reading these reports.
The second glitch I am finding with buoy weather is when u view it in an apps format on your device. Be very cautious that you are looking at an up to date forecast. For some reason it will hold an old forecast for days. What I have done to correct this is just close the app and open it again.

I think it is important to compare EC with buy weather it sometimes has little details that BW will not.

My 2 cents

 

[Sculpin]

X2 and to still look at EC. Buoy weather does have its little glitches to watch for tho. Two examples I can think of is one day there was forcast for no wind but a 3 m at 15 second swell that should have been and was immaculate for fishing. It was flagged as yellow. Not a bit deal but a good understanding of weather and sea conditions goes a lot further than just reading these reports.
The second glitch I am finding with buoy weather is when u view it in an apps format on your device. Be very cautious that you are looking at an up to date forecast. For some reason it will hold an old forecast for days. What I have done to correct this is just close the app and open it again.

I think it is important to compare EC with buy weather it sometimes has little details that BW will not.

My 2 cents

Great post. You have to look at as many weather sites as possible to make your decision on the outing. I was a little harsh with the EC thing. Frustration comes to mind lol. That's weather.

 

[Pippen]

Buoyweather......again thanks to FishTofino.

 

[Birdsnest]

Great post. You have to look at as many weather sites as possible to make your decision on the outing. I was a little harsh with the EC thing. Frustration comes to mind lol. That's weather.

No your not harsh with the EC thing. Its generally a BS forecast which reflects the liability age we live in these days. Problem is myself and I imagine others have started to second guess what it details because all to often it is calling for a gail warning when it stays glassy most of the day. This is why we are finding alternative information. The classic example of this is where it is calling for light and variable 3 or 4 days in advance and the night before that time it changes to gail warning or 15 to 25 kn. This is not always the case. I must emphasize this. Just the other day I was planning a trip where it was just to be fairly nice but when I get to the dock(4 am in the dark) it is blowing SE 12 kn and raining. I was freaked out. They guys with me were not surprised because they had read the EC forecast which I had not, and it called for exactly that, easing early in the morning which it did to my relief. It was a ok ride out to the grounds and we hammered the tunas that day but it was a nervous start for me.
Then my last trip BW was calling 10 to 14 kn and it blew a solid 18 kn all day. EC was calling for 10 to 20 in that area but also 15 to 25 kn at southern explorer which we are very close to.
For myself I have a rule. If it is forecast to blow more than 10 kn I don't go and I broke my rule the other day partially because i was in a boat that was much larger than mine but it didn't matter. The trip was rough and very breezy with close to 6 foot wind chop and solid whitecaps. Fishable yes but not worth it. Not so fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otm4RusESNU

 

[Secretpursuit]

Great info, Many Thanks to all.

 

[tincan]

I use 2 apps to check the weather:

1) FishWeather
2) Marine...Dave (Big wave Dave)

They are both free. search the app store and they should pop up near the top. I'm happy with both, especially with FishWeather forecasts, etc.

Also, ShralpTide is quick and easy for tides. Navionics for charts/tides.

 

[seadna]

I use Swellwatch.com - it's free and it provides 7 day graphical predictions of swell height, swell period and wind. I've found it to be very accurate 2-4 days out but occasionally the timing of a good/bad prediction will shift by half a day or so - if a future Sunday is predicted to be awesome on a Monday, it may turn out that it's actually Saturday that is good. However, their predictions are generally quite good and if there is a 2-3 day window of great conditions predicted, I can pretty much count on the middle of that prediction being great. Once it's within 48 hours, I find very few errors with the predictions with the exception of occasional winds being a bit higher or lower than predicted.

 

[Seafever]

I use SwellWatch, Big Wave Dave, Environment Canada, The Weather Channel, AccuWeather and a couple of others. (For ECVI)

I then "average " them out....without taking any single one as gospel.

That way I end up with a "general inclination".

I never believe anything that is more than two days ahead.

 

[jeffywestcoast]

Bigwavedave is usually the most accurate for ECVI i find but i always like to check the morning of to be sure..Environment Canada is usually close too.

 

[Bushbear]

I generally fish out of Port Angeles. It has been my experience that the US marine forecasts trend towards the maximum wind speed and wave heights within the zone being looked at. That can cover 20 miles or more. By looking at other 'sites, one can get an idea of what the overall forecast will probably be.

The various webcams along the Strait can give one a real time look at weather. I've often seen fog on the PA camera and then clear skies on the Ogden Point camera looking S. How far out the fog bank goes is a guess, but I've been surprised some mornings by getting 1/2 mile off-shore and being out of the fog.

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/west/sewmz.htm

I like this NOAA weather site. It is only good on the US side, though. It won’t give a report for the Canadian side but you can put your mouse on the US side of the border and get a pretty decent report.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=48.22009793454488&lon=-123.52203369140625

Can check predicted wind speeds, etc

http://graphical.weather.gov/sectors/sew.php

Hein Bank buoy (US)

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=46088

Web cams Ogden Point

http://www.bigwavedave.ca/webcams.php?cam=10

Victoria radar

http://weather.gc.ca/radar/index_e.html?id=XSI

 

[Birdsnest]

Ive always liked the washington marine forecast as well.