Weather and Windspeed

[On The Edge]

Hi All

I was wondering if there was a local TV, Radio or website that can correctly FORECAST the windspeed and gusts? I trusted the weather and windspeed from the winnipesaukee weather page and was very dissappoint today when I showed up and saw the lake conditions around sleepers and rattlesnake.

Thanx in advance

OTE

[robjnh]

We have used weather radio on VHF for years. Here is a link to there site and Meredith weather. As for wind speed if they say 10-15 add them together and figure it's going to blow 25 at times.

Remember Forecasting is an art not a science and most weather people are like Picaso.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/forecas...&city=Meredith

[madrasahs]

Originally Posted by robjnh

...As for wind speed if they say 10-15 add them together and figure it's going to blow 25 at times.

Most sailboaters have already figured that one out.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

On the Edge,
With this formula, was the prediction from the Winnipesaukee web page correct? Just curious.
Thanks for that bit of info and the web site, robjnh. I think it will come in handy.

[Island Girl]

.... and Intellicast has forecast for every seveal hours.

[On The Edge]

Hi Again

I am in the process of building something on sleepers island ( the side facing Rattlesnake) and having that info the night before would help in making the correct decision and not wasting a trip or a day off from (real) work. I know that when the winds are blowing from the NW 15mph and above I don't want to be out there with my 19ft boat.

I sent a e-mail to the WMUR weather team and Josh sent me back this link.
It's pretty informative but I am not sure how accurate? I guess only time will tell.

http://www.weirsonline.com/boatingforecast.htm

Hi Rattlesnake Gal

I was up there on friday, the night before I checked the weather on the winnipesaukee home page and the winds where to be between 3 and 5 mph NW. I usually launch my boat @ ames farm and I could see the white caps. I got my boat in the water and as soon as I got pass the point there was 2ft - 2 1/2ft waves waiting for me. When I got home I check the currect conditions on the weather page and they said 12mph with 20mph gusts.

Thank you all for helping me

OTE

[Island Girl]

Living on the broads side of Rattlesnake poses the same issues with the wind. My 20 ft boat could probably handle the waves better than my 18' did but landing at the dock might prove impossible.

Early in the week I start looking at wind forecasts from various places including accuweather (I check the hour by hour forecast), Intellicast, weather.com and wunderground. I also look for cold fronts. With a cold front a NW wind almost always follows, sometime it will howl for three days. Any wind direction from the N, NW, WNW and W seem to produce those lovely large waves. They build up from the other end of the lake and are ferocious once then get to our part of the lake. Any direction with an S is usually passable and well as E.

The night before I am traveling I take a very critical view of the forecast and determine if I will have to delay or cancel. If the trip is an afternoon or evening crossing I will check the wind during the day and look at the various lake webcams to see if the weather sites current wind speed match the actual conditions. I make a travel decision at the last minute by understanding if the wind is going to die down or pick up within a couple of hours of my arrival. Some times there is a narrow window of opportunity at dawn and dusk.

My rule of thumb is 10 mph is getting bumpy, 12 is too much to travel and 15 is impossible.

My larger cuddy cabin has not been put to the test in the higher winds but my smaller bowrider got swamped in 15+ mph and I am not willing to repeat that.

Have Fun

[Scott]

Originally Posted by On The Edge

Hi Again
I am in the process of building something on sleepers island ( the side facing Rattlesnake) and having that info the night before would help in making the correct decision and not wasting a trip or a day off from (real) work. I know that when the winds are blowing from the NW 15mph and above I don't want to be out there with my 19ft boat.
I sent a e-mail to the WMUR weather team and Josh sent me back this link.
It's pretty informative but I am not sure how accurate? I guess only time will tell.
http://www.weirsonline.com/boatingforecast.htm

I'm the guy behind that link you posted. I've tweaked it several times to make it as accurate as possible. I've got it so that the winds are usually pretty accurate. If your out in the middle of the broads...the wave prediction formula still seems a little conservative. Elsewhere it's also pretty accurate.

Of course it's still the weather...always subject to (sometimes dramatic) change.

-Scott

[On The Edge]

Hi Scott

Thanx for the follow up post. I am glad that the website is backed up by someone who keeps current listings and posts information based on experience and knowledge of the Lake. I am interested in how you get to the wave size, since that is what keeps me awake at night. Do you have a spreedsheet that calculates this info?

Thanx OTE