Weather, tides and currents are three variables every boat operator has to deal with. In order for any boat outing to go safely and according to plans, you'll need to know where to find reliable predictions and how to make use of them. Weather conditions are important to all boating operations and a knowledge of tides and currents is critical in many cases.
General weather forecasts are available from a variety of sources, including local newspapers and radio and TV stations. But marine forecasts and tide and current predictions are harder to find. Below are listed references and links to some excellent sources for New England information. Click on the links to go to the various sources.
The Perfect StormWeb Sources
The Weather Channel
Provides general weather forecasts by region. Just type in a ZIP
code or city to get a regional forecast with satellite images, etc.
www.weather.com
Maine Harbors.com
This excellent Website includes weather, tide and current information and much more for all of the New England coastal states.
www.MaineHarbors.com
Maine Harbors.com's Weather Images page
This page provides an incredible variety of colorful satellite and doppler radar images.
www.maineharbors.com/weather/wimage.htm
NOAA Marine Forecasts
Provides detailed up-to-date marine forecasts and more.
www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/usamz.htmOther Sources
NOAA Weather Radio - All mariners rely on this resource. It's available locally on all marine radios.
www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/
Chapman's Piloting - the mariner's bible - all boaters should have this book. It contains over 600 pages of general boating information plus details on forecasting the weather and reading tide and current tables.
Available at most marine-supply and book stores and on the Web.
Chapman's Piloting - A review of this book
Reed's Nautical Almanac
This is another book all boaters should have. It contains detailed tide and current information and other boating content. Reed's is available at most marine-supply store and on the Web.
www.ReedsAlmanac.comNOAA's Perfect Storm Website
www.ncdc.noaa.gov
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