Reading The Weather (Townsville Reefs)

[D river]

Can any1 help me get this right I look on seabreeze and the BOM and ring the BOM but it never seems to be right on seabreeze I look at Townsville's wind graph, is this the right graph too look at for the reef or is there a better 1 to get an idea of whats happening out there.

[STUIE63]

I use this in conjunction with seabreeze http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDG00074.shtml
and this explains how to read charts
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=144576&highlight=isobar
Stuie

[D river]

Thanks stewie that read did help a fair bit. Do you look at townsville on seabreeze for the reef weather or a different location. When i lived in proserpine it was no point looking at its weather as it was inland and sheltered I was always better off looking at mackay and hamo island was wondering if same applied for reef off here

[Camhawk88]

D river, The seabreeze station for Townsville is in town (not sure where exactly) so you are right it can be windy offshore but be showing all red arrows. The Lucinda graph and Ayr graph can give you a broader picture of what's going on- particularly Lucinda.
I also use the BOm website in the marine forecast section. This map will give you an idea of if the winds inshore are similar to out at the reef.
The other site to use is the wave rider which shows wave size about 5-6nm east of the cape. This will give the best idea of what the ofshore waters are doing.

Go to- http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/environmental_management/coast_and_oceans/waves_and_storm_tides/wave_monitoring/site.php?siteid=10

[Scott nthQld]

I'm with stuie, I use both seabreeze and bom predictions plus the charts to try and make my own decision.

Read that link stuie gave you, it will teach you how to read the charts so you can make your own decision on whose predictions are correct.

I also use this to see what the seas are doing. There are a series of graphs that will give you wave height, frequency, direction ans even surface temp

http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/environmental_management/coast_and_oceans/waves_and_storm_tides/wave_monitoring/site_param.php?siteid=10&paramid=1

These are current readings, but with a bit of practice, you will soon be able to make your own predictions on the seas given the weather predictions. There's a wave buoy wide of Cape cleveland which will give you a pretty good indication of what the seas will be like on the way to the reef, usually things calm off once you get the the reef proper

[STUIE63]

thanks Scott I didn't have that link
Stuie

[STUIE63]

Thanks stewie that read did help a fair bit. Do you look at townsville on seabreeze for the reef weather or a different location. When i lived in proserpine it was no point looking at its weather as it was inland and sheltered I was always better off looking at mackay and hamo island was wondering if same applied for reef off here

I look at Townsville on seabreeze but I also take a lot of note of the 4 day charts because seabreeze is is in shore to me and there is quite often a complete different thing happening at the reef . I have seen it glass out the closer I got to the reef and have also seen it get an awful lot worse . I originally taught myself how to read weather charts because I was getting too many bad weather forecasts . but the other link explains it very well .
if i was to use a bom forecast i would use http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/marine/wind/index.jsp
I never use http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/forecasts/northern_qld_coastal_waters.shtml
because I think it cover too big an area (cardwell too bowen) as i normally fish at Lucinda and the wind always roars through Bowen I ignore this.
hope this helps
Stuie

[Ausfish]

If you do a search of the forums here you'll find a great deal of info.


search icon at the top of the forum pages.

Here's a start. http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=155915&highlight=Weather+sites

[D river]

Hey thanks to all I'll be researching all those links n learning what i can

[Alchemy]

I also use Seabreeze and BOM, but also look here for the actual observations http://data.aims.gov.au/aimsrtds/faces/latestreadings.xhtml

[Richo1]

As a very general rule for the east coast, if you have a strong high pressure system in the Great Australian Bight you will get strong South Easters up the east coast. Eg 1035 hpa High you will get 25 - 30knots off up the east coast. Watching the forecast charts, comparing winds and a bit of practice you can get pretty good at your own forecasts.
Regards,
Richo