Weather or Not

This past weekend and next (March 8 + 9, 15 +16) Cheri and I are taking a class on weather given by Lee Chesneau (click here).  We're not just talking about clouds and raindrops here.  The class goes each day from 0800 to 1700, full day, and is just a small group, maybe eight or ten folks.  When we're finished we should be able to interpret weather prediction charts on land and sea and be able to plot our course to avoid severe weather.  The instructor, Lee, was a Senior Marine Meteorologist for the NOAA / National Weather Service Ocean Prediction Center (OPC - click here).

The class on Saturday was an introduction to the basics.  We learned about the different types of cloud formations and how they're associated with warm or cold fronts and approaching weather.  We learned about the different symbols used on weather charts and how to interpret what the predictions were for the next 24, 48 and 96 hours.  On Sunday we spent the day applying all this to real-life charts and figuring out what conditions we'd be seeing if our boat was located "here" and this front was moving "there".  There was so much information to absorb we were both concerned it would all go in one ear and out the other.  By the end of the day on Sunday it was obvious that Cheri had really "gotten it".  I, on the other hand, really needed to study more.  Next weekend we go into advanced weather planning and learn how to use this information to plan our course to avoid bad weather and predict wave height and wind conditions.

This is very cool stuff.  Even the little bit I did retain will come in handy.  We plan to do daily studies of current weather charts over the next year to really hammer home the lesson and hopefully we'll be experts by the time we head out into the big blue ocean.  Before we took this class I had been planning to do my "weather routing" by using GRIB (gridded binary) files that can be gotten through e-mail over the single side-band radio.  These are computer models that show predicted winds over the oceans.  What we learned in this class is that the information we get from the Ocean Prediction Center is a whole lot more informative and we'll be able to make better, more informed decisions about where we're going in relation to the weather.

Let's face it, our boat speed is probably only going to average about 6 knots or 6.9 mph.  We'll be doing really well if we cover 150 miles in a 24 hour period.  Knowing what weather is bearing down on us while it's still 100's of miles away, we can alter our course and stay out of harms way.  We'll still be dealing with storms occasionally but we'll be able to make informed decisions before we leave port and stay safe once we're out there in open water.  We'll also be able to interpret the local weather more accurately and know that those Cirrostratus clouds moving in from the SW indicate an approaching warm front which could mean wind and rain.  Pair that with a rapidly falling barometer and we'll probably be altering our course to stay on the better side of it as it passes through.  Now, if I could just understand which way to alter my course I'll be feeling much better.  Actually, that's all part of next week's class.

Click here for a really wonderful site on weather.  You can click on the pictures on the right side of the page or the symbols below the main image to get information about the different types of clouds.