Hi. I have purchased and completely read Mariner’s Weather Handbook, and now I am reading Surviving the Storm. I would like to take a stab at weather prediction, say for my own area (Detroit, MI) as a way to build the skills you suggest are necessary to make the best possible passages. My problem is, after reading all this material I must be in info overload as I have no idea how to start. Could you suggest a simple recipe for doing prediction using the internet that I could try out? I tried looking at some of the marine sites mentioned in the book, but there are so many sites and so many links to info. I am lost. A recipe might look like…
Hi Scott: The answer is actually quite simple. Go to the Marine Prediction Center’s website (in the SetSail links), and then chose one of the regions. Then, look at the long and medium range weather–say 48 to 96 hour data–and make some educated guesses on what you think will happen. To evaluate how these turn out wait 24-48 hours–and check the charts called “surface analysis” which show you what’s actually happening at the present time. Steve
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
