SAILING ACTIVITIES: WEATHER/TIDES

The following is a list of weather websites and a suggested sequence of use.

Start out with the Big Picture by looking at the NOAA Surface prediction maps. If you are near the time that you will be sailing in, looking at the cloud movements at NOAA GEOS Satellite is a good confirmation of what the 12-18 hour prediction maps were showing.

Local Sites that will give you a reading on what has happened in the past 24 hours are at airports in the area, LaGuardia Airport, Farmingdale, and Bridgeport and at weather buoys in the area; West LIS Buoy, East LIS Buoy and Ambrose Light. One note on the buoys, they get taken out of service a lot.

Predictions can be found on a great number of sites. For looking at the Northeast overall, a great site to start with is NOAA NE Marine. Moving in closer to the area is Intellicast and the NOAA Long Island Sound page.

To get the times of the Tides the website SaltWaterTides.com gives you a pretty wide area to chose from. You can also download a small tide prediction program called WX Tide, which can give you graphics that predict the flood and ebb rates.