Hello, I’ve been reading Mariner’s Weather Weather (which I find very helpful and readable compared to several other weather books I’ve slogged thru, thanks!) and I was wondering what scale of 500mb and surface charts you recommend I study (as I try to get a hang of this theory before heading out sailing in a few years).
I’ve seen them ranging from very small areas to the world (particularly the 500 mb ones). Thanks, Glen
Hi Glen: You need to look at a lot of area to get a feel for long and short waves with 500mb charts. Typically the entire ocean basin in which you are interested plus a bit upwind. For the North Pacific you’d be watching the ocean itself plus some area over Russia.
The US Marine Prediction Center 500mb charts are quite good in picking out the right geography. You can find the URLs for their websites in our weather links. Good Luck with your studies. Steve
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
