Some links to weather sites

If you know of any more that you think are worth including, plus your comments, please email me:
Mail@SecretOcean.net

www.grib.us (Grided Binary)
This is a stunning weather site. Takes a bit
of downloading (Grib files & form filling)
but...have a try

German Marine forcast: Albaran area

Land Forcast for El Ejido

Coastal Forcast for the Costa del sol

www.PassageWeather.com

www.weatheronline.co.uk

Photo courtesy of the RYA

Now look at this <click) Wow!

And More sites

Buoyweather http://buoyweather.com is a States based service based on their big weather model, combined with reports at various weather buoys around the coast. There are virtual buoys where there are no weather buoys. What you get in the Med is a reduced service, as the weather is so idiosyncratic. It gives plain language text as well as graphical reports. It is not grib based. You send an email with the report type you want, and you get an automated reply after a few minutes, for the specified point and for a few days. If on passage you can specify a series of positions/dates/times for which you want the prediction. As such it is sailmail or winlink friendly.
An American friend and experienced skipper swore by it. It costs $29 p.a. for 365 e-mails.

Some Translations

1 Último aviso de temporal = Most recent storm warning

2 Próximas horas = Short term forecast

3 Tendencia posterior = Forecast for 24 & 48 hours

Beaufort scale

degree	speed (km/h)	type of wind	speed (knots)	characters	speed (m/s)
0	0 - 1	calm	0 - 1	the smoke rises vertically; the sea is one mirror.	< 0.3
1	1 - 5	puff of wind	1 - 3	the wind turns aside the smoke; ripples of the water.	0.3 - 1.5
2	6 - 11	light breeze	4 - 6	the leaves move; small but obvious waves.	1.6 - 3.3
3	12 - 19	breeze	7 - 10	constantly churned leaves and twigs; small waves, crests that begin to break.	3.4 - 5.4
4	20 - 28	lively breeze	11 - 16	the wind raises powder, leaves sand banks, the coppers is churned; small waves that become longer.	5.5 - 7.9
5	29 - 38	stiff breeze	17 - 21	the shrubs with leaves oscillate; small are formed waves in inner waters; lengthened moderate waves.	8 - 10.7
6	39 - 49	fresh wind	22 - 27	great churned, hissing sound between coppers the telegraphic wires; billow with white foam crests are formed, and sprays.	10.8 - 13.8
7	50 - 61	moderate gale	28 - 33	entire churned trees, difficulty to walk against wind; the sea is large, the foam begins to being frayed in wakes.	13.9 - 17.1
8	62 - 74	moderate squall	34 - 40	broken coppers, to walk against wind are impossible; lengthened billow of medium height and more, from the crests they detach whirlwinds of sprays.	17.2 - 20.7
9	75 - 88	strong squall	41 - 47	removed fireplaces and tiles; large big waves, thick wakes of foam and sprays, raised from the wind, reduce the visibility.	20.8 - 24.4
10	89 - 102	tempest	48 - 55	rare in mainland, trees uprooted, serious damages to the rooms; enormous big waves with long crests to spandrel.	24.5 - 28.4
11	103 - 117	storm	56 - 63	rare, most serious devastations; enormous and high waves, that they can hide ships of medium tonnage; reduced visibility.	28.5 - 32.6
12	over 118	hurricane	64 +	destruction of buildings, manufactured, etc; in sea the foam and the sprays reduce the visibility much.	32.7 +

The speed of the wind is measured with the anemometer, and express in km/h and is suitable from the scale of Beaufort, that takes the name from the admiral British Francis Beaufort (Navam 1774-1857) employed to the service idro-graphic. He in the 1806 proposed a scale for the classification of the strength of the wind in 13 degrees, that came then adopted from the British admiralty in the 1838 and in succession at 1874 o'clock from the rest of the world.

The Yachts’man’s Golden Rule
If the wind is in the North
It’s better not to venture forth,
While if the wind is in the West
To stay at home’s by far the best
If the wind be in the South,
Remain within the harbour mouth;
While if the wind be in the East,
It is not fit for man or beast.
And if there be no wind to blow,
Stop in the pub, you cannot go.

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