Weather - Ocean Navigator

14 Apr

Ken McKinleyNewsletter, Weather

In the last newsletter I speculated on the possible retirement of hurricane names over the past two Atlantic hurricane seasons. Recall that it is the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) that generates the lists of names that are used for tropical cyclones around the world, and because of the Covid-19 pandemic, they had been unable to meet after the 2019 hurricane season to decide which names should be retired from the list because the storms were particularly impactful in terms of property damage and/or loss of life. The WMO committee in charge of this task finally met (virtually) in March of…

09 Feb

Ken McKinleyNewsletter, Weather

The 2020 hurricane season was one for the history books. For just the second time in modern times, the list of Atlantic storm names was exhausted, requiring the use of the Greek alphabet. The last time this happened was in 2005, which was the year of Katrina. In that year, storm names extended six deep into the Greek alphabet, with the final storm that year having the name “Zeta”. For the 2020 season, the names went all the way to Iota (the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet). The final storm advisory for the 2020 season was issued on November…

25 Aug

Planning, communication and flexibility

Ocean NavigatorWeather

Weather routers provide services to ocean voyagers for passages all around the globe. These professionals are usually degreed meteorologists who also have expertise in ocean currents, the dynamics of sea state, and local weather phenomena that occur in different areas of the world. Routers also have an understanding of the issues faced by voyagers in many different types of vessels, from large commercial ships like tankers and containerships to much smaller recreational boats. Clients can include oceangoing tugs and barges, commercial fishing vessels, megayachts, cruising and racing sailboats, trawler yachts and even human-powered craft. While the weather router will contribute…

18 May

Wave energy charts as voyage planning tools

Ocean NavigatorWeather

Pilot charts are key tools for anyone planning an offshore voyage. These charts have been developed through the analysis of weather data gathered over hundreds of years. They graphically present historical climatological data in a sensible and understandable fashion. For each of the world’s ocean basins, a series of 12 monthly charts displays information about winds, currents, wave heights, atmospheric pressure, ice sightings and more. The prudent mariner uses all means to plan a safe voyage and pilot charts provide one of these fundamental means. Recent work by a scientist in Canada has produced a thoroughly modern look at one…

01 Jan

By the numbers

Ocean NavigatorGood Reads, Weather

Long before the advent of electronics and high tech wind measuring devices, a qualitative wind estimating method called the Beaufort Scale of Wind Forces was used. It was invented by an early English navigator by the name of Francis Beaufort (1774 to 1857) who wanted to correlate ships' log reports of wind speed with the ensuing action taken by the ships' skippers to set the proper amount of sail on the square riggers. Too little sail and the ship was not combat ready; too much sail and the ship risked having its sticks blown out. His scale ranged from 1…