Looks like Sunday's set for good winds, but lots of disagreement about Saturday. Latest Swellinfo maps have sideshore for Va Beach and onshore for Eastern Shore. Both show decreasing wind throughout the day. Weather.com pretty much agrees with the wind direction, but is showing lighter winds (< 5kt) early, followed by heavier winds later. Accuweather.com shows onshore for both places and heavier winds (10-15 kt). Any other sites people recommend for wind forecasts? Is there one source that's thought of as the "official" wind forecast shop? Thanks and hoping the 6pm forecast update will be colored blue or green for one of these locations on Saturday!
Could someone give me a quick lesson on the way the winds affect the surf. Or point me to a place I can learn. I want to be able to understand this stuff myself so I dont waste my time going out only to be disapointed.. thanks guys!
wind causes waves. The strength and fetch (distance over which wind blows) cause surf. Offshore winds (our little green man in the forecast) clean the wave up. Onshore/Sideshore generally cause a surface chop, sections to close out etc. Just go up to the beach during different winds. With a west in jerz (generally) the surface is very 'clean' in other words, no chop. Other directions (North, East, Southeast) cause a chop, white caps, etc.
don't know how he pulls all the data together. i look at a wide range of stuff but mainly SI and NOAA for weather. Last year I did a 3 months study of various forecasting sites and compared the forecast for 3 days before a date to the actual conditions on that date. SI was the best with a 70% accuracy rate. Magic Seaweed was right about 20% of the time.
aka, I to have comparied several of the sites and have found about the same accuracy between SI & MSW. I have found that on a short period wind swell SI can be more accurate at times. Ground swell prediction is the same on both sites. Bottom line is all these sites are great tools, but you still have to have a bit of local knowledge and check it in person if you don't want to miss a chance. This is especially true around these parts with so much wind swell which can turn on or off on very short notice. Another site for wind - http://forecast.weather.gov/shmrn.php?mz=anz650
