GMDSS (and some other) Forecasts

Mainly in text form, for most sea areas of the World

IMPORTANT NOTE - Many links to GMDSS forecast texts are now made freely, conveniently and quickly available through WMO and IMO . This facility has been set up through excellent work by Météo France.

Many other links , compiled by Martin Stubbs and myself, enable access to marine forecasts provided by National Weather Services to meet the requirements of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). I wish to acknowledge the help given by Allan Riches, Brunei Bay Radio, for links around his part of the globe. I am also indebted to Winlink2000 for access to their very extensive Catalog.

WMO/IMO Links	METAREA I	METAREA II	METAREA III	METAREA IV	METAREA V	METAREA VI	METAREA VII
METAREA VIII(N)	METAREA VIII(S)	METAREA IX	METAREA X	METAREA XI	METAREA XII	METAREA XIII	METAREA XIV
METAREA XV	METAREA XVI	Winlink list and MailASail	Other useful weather links	Radio - fax and teleprinter schedules	METAREA details	European NAVTEX	Links to Charts

Introduction

The GMDSS is a global communications service based upon automated systems, both satellite and terrestrial based, providing distress alerts and promulgating Maritime Safety Information. The satellite based system is via the INMARSAT SafetyNET^TM service; the terrestrial system is the NAVTEX service on 518 kHz. There are also RadioFax and Radio Teleprinter services.

Access to the Internet at sea using GSM phone, satellite phone or HF link can be slow and costly. Useful links from this site can be kept as favourites for speed of use. It is convenient to have to hand the web address of a site such as this and other pages of this site so that one can visit an Internet Café and access as much useful information as possible before leaving port.

The prudent sailor will ensure that he has all the relevant equipment

necessary to receive these and other MSI broadcasts that are provided within the context of the GMDSS. As a minimum, that means having Marine VHF and NAVTEX. For those going further afield, then it means having a SSB radio and/or an INMARSAT receiver.

Most of the sections below are as on Martin Stubbs' site which is well worth visiting..

This page is mainly concerned with text forecasts. Links to charts in various forms and explanatory text can be found at my Essential Sites page with a list of charts with no text at the Chart list page.

WMO/IMO Service

A WMO/IMO web site provides the marine weather information broadcast via INMARSAT-C SafetyNET by all National Meteorological Services (NMS) appointed as Issuing Services within the framework of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. Some texts broadcast by NAVTEX are also included.

To use this service simply click on a link in the table below. But not all

of the countries concerned are producing forecasts in the required format. There may be some gaps.
But, be careful to have the latest issue (use the refresh or reload button if in doubt!).

The WMO/IMO site does not have links that can be bookmarked. Those below are from The Météo France Navimail site.

WMO Link	Description of area	For map send blank email to
United Kingdom Shipping Forecast	Forecast for UK Sea areas	metarea1_offshore.gif
METAREA I	The North Atlantic Ocean east of 35°W, from48°27'N to 71°N including the North Sea and Baltic Sea sub-area	metarea1.jpg
METAREA II	Atlantic waters east of 35°W, from 7°N to 48°27'N, and east of 20°W from 7°N to 6°S, including the Straits of Gibraltar	metarea2.jpg
METAREA III-West	The Mediterranean east of the Straits of Gibraltar and Black Sea	metarea3.jpg
METAREA III-East		metarea3.jpg
METAREA IV	The western part of the North Atlantic Ocean eastwards of the North American coast to 35W, from 7N to 67N, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the sea area between 7N and the South American coastline eastwards to the French Guyana/Brazil frontier in 4°30N	metarea4.jpg
METAREA V	Atlantic waters west of 20°W from 35°50'S to 7°N, narrowing in the coastal strips at the extremities to the Uruguay/Brazil frontier in 33°45'S and the French Guyana/Brazil frontier in 4°30'N	metarea5.jpg
METArREA VI North of 60°S	The South Atlantic and Southern Oceans south of 35°50S, and from 20W to the longitude of Cape Horn, 67°16W, including the coastal strip to the Uruguay/Brazil frontier in 33°45S	metarea6.jpg
METArREA VI South of 60°S		metarea6.jpg
METAREA VII	The South Atlantic and Southern Oceans south of 6°S from 20°W to the coast of Africa, thence south to the Cape of Good Hope; the South Indian and Southern Oceans south of 10°30'S from the Cape to 55°E, thence south of 30°S to 80°E	metarea7.jpg
METAREA VIII N	The area of the Indian Ocean enclosed by lines from the Indo-Pakistan frontier in 23°45'N 68°E to 12°N 63°E, thence to Cape Gardafui; the east African coast south to the equator, thence to 95°E, to 6°N, thence NE_wards to the Myanmar/Thailand frontier in 10N 98°30'E	metarea8.jpg
METAREA VIII S	The east African coast from the equator south to 10°30'S, thence to 55°E, to 30°S, to 95°E, to the equator, to the east African coast	metarea8.jpg
METAREA IX	The Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf, north of Area VIII	metarea9.jpg
METAREA X NE of Australia	The South Indian and Southern Oceans east of 80°E and south of 30°S to 95°E, to 12°S, to 127°E; thence the Timor Sea, South Pacific and Southern Oceans south of 10°S to 141°E to the equator, to 170°E, to 29°S, thence SW_wards to 45°S in 160°E, then the 160°E meridian	metarea10.jpg metarea10_gale_storm_area.gif metarea10_TCW_area.gif
METAREA X N of Australia
METAREA X SE of Indian Ocean
METAREA X SE of Australia
METAREA XI W of N Pacific China	The Indian Ocean, China Sea and North Pacific Ocean northward of Area X and on the equator to longitude 180°, eastward of Area VIII and the Asian continent to the North Korea/Russian Federation frontier in 42°30'N 130°E, thence to 135°E, NE_wards to 45°N 138°E, to 45°N 180°
METAREA XI W of N Pacific Japan
METAREA XI W of N Pacific Equator
METAREA XII	The eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, west of the North and South American coast and east of 120°W, from 3°24'S to the equator, thence to 180°, to 50°N thence NW_wards to 53°N 172°E, NE_wards following the marine frontier between United States and Russian Federation waters to 67°N
METAREA XIII	Sea areas enclosed north of Area XI and west of Area XII; also all Arctic waters from 170W westwards to 20°E	metarea13.jpg
METAREA XIV	The South Pacific and Southern Oceans south of the equator, bounded by Area X to the west, Area XII to the north and Area XV to the east	metarea14.jpg
METAREA XV	The South Pacific and Southern Oceans south of 18°21'S following the coast of Chile to the longitude of Cape Horn in 67°16'W, and 120°W	metarea15.jpg
METAREA XVI	The South Pacific Ocean between 18°21'S and 3°24'S bounded by the coast of Peru and 120°W
ARCTIC OCEAN	The Arctic Ocean from south-west corner 67°N, 44°E to north-east corner 80°N, 165°W

OTHER TEXT FORECASTS

Many or all of these WMO/IMO texts are available via other routes. Some are given below, together with other links to (mainly) GMDSS text forecasts that sailors will find useful.

BUT - Take care that the forecast that appears on screen is current and not from your own cache. If in doubt use the Refresh or Reload button.

Links change from time to time. I will try to keep this page up to date but it may not be possible while I am away. Martin Stubbs' site may be more up to date.

UNITED KINGDOM, IRELAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, the NETHERLANDS, NORWAY, FINLAND, ICELAND & DENMARK (METAREA I)

High Seas Forecast Issued by the UK Met Office via INMARSAT at 0930/2130 UTC High Seas forecast for METAREA I See also WMO links	Shipping Forecast Issued by the UK Met Office at 0505/1130/1725/2330 Local Clock Time Shipping forecast on UK Met O site See also WMO links
Storm Warning Latest Storm Warning issued by UK Met Office for METAREA I	Gale Warning Latest Gale Warnings issued by the UK Met Office for UK Sea Areas
BBC Marine Weather Site This is a very useful page Shipping Forecast, High Seas (INMARSAT-C), Inshore Waters, NAVTEX texts - Niton, Cullercoats, Portpatrick, Extended Range Forecasts, Warnings and Buoy Reports, Coastal Reports However, these are very heavy downloads. There are text versions that are commendably quick to download. Go to the index of text only BBC foreacsts and follow your nose.
Coastal waters around Ireland Shipping Forecast Gale Warnings (From Met Éireann and RTE, Ireland)	Forecast for the Inshore Waters around the United Kingdom Issued by the Met Office at about 0000/0600/1200/1800/ UTC Inshore Waters Forecast
Shipping Forecast Issued by Météo-France Casquets to Hebrides	Shipping Forecast Issued by Météo-France Humber to Casquets
Netherlands Coast and southern North Sea Menu of Marine Forecasts and Warnings Mostly in Dutch NAVTEX bulletins via Ijmuiden [P] in English (From KNMI in English)	Southern Baltic and North Sea 24-hour forecasts for Danish Sea Areas (From Danish Meteorological Institute in English)
Baltic Sea Sea Area Forecast Gulf of Finland, Northern Baltic, Sea of Aaland and Archipelago, Gulf of Bothnia (From Finnish Met Service- in English)	.S Baltic and North Sea Latest DWD Shipping Forecast NordSee and Ostsee Nordsee and Ostsee (coastal areas) and 5 day forecast for Nordsee and Ostsee (From DWD, in German)
Norwegian Sea North and Norwegian Seas (from the Norwegian Met Service in English)	Météo France Coastal Forecasts VHF Belgian frontier to baie de la Somme baie de la Somme to Cap de la Hague la Hague to Penmarc’h Météo-France Menu Page
Icelandic High Seas High Seas Forecast (Issued by the Icelandic Met Service in English at 04:30, 10:03, 16:30 and 22:10 UTC)	Icelandic (Coastal) Sea Areas Inshore Waters Forecast in Icelandic (Issued, in Icelandic, at 01:00, 04:30, 06:45, 10:03, 12:45, 16:30, 19:30 and 22:10 UTC. At the times underlined there is also a High Seas forecast. At 1003 there is a 3 day outlook.)

FRANCE, SPAIN, PORTUGAL (METAREA II)

High Seas Forecast Issued by Météo-France at 0900/2100 UTC (in English) High Seas forecast for METAREA II (North Atlantic)	*NAVTEX bulletin as broadcast by Corsen* [A]** Issue times 0900/2100 NAVTEX bulletin (Biscay etc)
Météo France Coastal Forecasts VHF Penmarc’h to l’anse de l’Aiguillon l’anse de l’Aiguillon to the Spanish border Météo-France Menu Page Forecasts and Warnings and a selection of forecast charts (In French)	Spanish Met Service (in Spanish) Sea Area forecasts Atlantic N of 30 N Latest Forecast Outlook Latest Warnings Atlantic S of 35 N Latest Forecast Outlook Latest Warnings Coastal forecasts Vasco, Cantabria y Asturias Latest Forecast Outlook Galicia Latest Forecast Outlook Canary Isles Latest Forecast Outlook from the Spanish Met Service NOTE - Coastal forecasts include reports of actual weather. Outlooks may be for one or two days depending on time of issue
Radio France Internationale Bulletin for the North Atlantic Forecast for south and south-east North Atlantic (Southwest Approaches to the Windward Isles) Forecast for the Southern and South-eastern North Atlantic, in French, as broadcast by RFI at 1140 UTC
Portugal & Madeira GMDSS forecasts in English via Météo France Portuguese coastal waters and Madeira coastal waters Forecasts (in Portuguese) 24hr Forecast and outlook	Azores GMDSS forecasts in English via Météo France Azores coastal waters (in Portuguese): - 24hr Forecast Outlook

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Marine Forecasts available for METAREAs III to XVI

METAREA	Issuing Country	Forecast	Notes
III	France	High Seas forecast NAVTEX bulletin (La Garde) Cerbere to port la Camargue port la Camargue to Saint-Raphael Saint-Raphael to Menton Coasts of Corsica	INMARSAT-C text for Western areas of the Mediterranean Issue times 0900/ 2100 NAVTEX output from CROSS La Garde [W] Issue times 0930/ 2130 Coastal Forecasts as CROSSMED VHF Météo-France Menu Page
	Spain	Sea Areas Forecast Latest forecast Outlook Latest warnings W Andalucía, Gibraltar Strait, Ceuta Latest Forecast Outlook E Andalucía, Melilla, Alborán Latest Forecast Outlook Murcia, Valencia Latest Forecast Outlook Cataluña Latest Forecast Outlook Ilas Baléares Latest Forecast Outlook	NOTE - VHF forecasts are in Spanish and include reports of actual weather. Outlooks may be for one or two days depending on time of issue from the Spanish Met Service
	Spain	Forecasts for Catalan coast	Catalan Meteorological Service: home page Texts, wind and waves graphics
	US Navy	La Maddalena Straits of Bonifacio to 4 days	NEMOC forecast
	Italy	Sea Area Bulletins Texts of NAVTEX and VHF broadcasts	Central areas of the Mediterranean (For details of use click here Slow but comprehensive site
	Malta	Short period and brief three day forecast Detailed Three-day forecast for 50 nm around Malta	Observations of wind MSLP 24-hr f/c
	Adriatic	Sea Area Bulletin	!2 hours plus 12 hour outlook. PMC Split (In English)
	Turkey	3 day forecast for Turkish waters	Turkish Met Service
	Turkey	Aegean, Black Sea, Sea of Marmaris Mediterranean areas east of 12 deg E	Big files, slow download, not always a response Turkish Met Service
	Greece	High Seas forecast	Eastern areas of the Mediterranean Poseidon site Wind and swell forecasts around Greece for 36 hours ahead.
IV	USA	High Seas forecast	Issue times 0420/1020/1620/2220 Full list of US NWS Marine Forecasts. Ice information: Canadian waters US Coastguard chart
V	Brazil	High Seas forecast	Menu to charts and data Best viewed using Explorer 5.0 or above
VI	Argentina	High Seas forecast N of 60&deg S High Seas forecast S of 60&deg S	Menu for charts issued by Argentina Links to information for Antarctica
VII	South Africa	High Seas Coastal Waters up to 50 nautical miles, Eastern Cape Coastal Belt Cannon Rocks to Kei River Mouth Coastal Belt Plettenberg Bay to Cannon Rocks Wild Coast - Kei River Mouth to Port Edward KwaZulu-Natal North Coast and Maputoland - Tugela Mouth to Kosi Bay South Coast - Port Edward to Tugela Northern Cape Namaqualand Coast North of Lambert's Bay Western Cape Inshore and off-shore waters between St Helena Bay and Plettenberg Bay	Access to MSLP analysis
VIII(N)	India	High Seas forecast via the WMO-IOC JCOMM site	ECMWF products for the area (T+72 to T+168)
VIII(S)	Mauritius/Reunion	High Seas forecast via the WMO-IOC JCOMM site	Access to MSLP analysis via the SAWB
IX	Pakistan	High Seas forecast	Sub Areas 1-4
IX	Saudi Arabia	High Seas forecast	Red Sea and Arabian Gulf
X	Australia	Menu of High Sea forecasts	List of Charts
XI	China/Hong Kong	Bulletin issued by Hong Kong	Sea areas within the responsibility of Hong Kong
	Japan	High Seas bulletin	Warnings and summary - updated every six hours
	Republic of Singapore	Latest issue	Access to charts and other marine interest Charts are for a large area including the South China Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean
	Malaysia	Latest issue	Forecasts for areas in the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca
	Philippines	Latest issue	24 hour forecast
XI and XII(S)	USA	Go to WMO/IMO list	North Pacific Equator to 30N between 140W and 160E Full list of US NWS Marine Forecasts
XII	USA	High Seas forecast	North Pacific E of 180&deg E Full list of US NWS Marine Forecasts
XIII	Russia	Go to WMO/IMO list	—
XIV(N)	USA		Equator to 25S between 120W and 160E Full list of US NWS Marine Forecasts
XIV(S)	New Zealand	High Seas forecast May need to click or double click on tab FORECASTS Click on map for area required	Analyses and forecast charts Click or double click on tab CHARTS if necessary
XV	Chile	Go to WMO/IMO list	—
XVI	USA	High Seas forecast	Area to west of Peru Full list of US NWS Marine Forecasts

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Tropical Storms, Worldwide gives much useful data on current tropical storms, their tracks and much historical data.

Winlink Catalog - The links from the following table are mainly those available from the Winlink Catalog and to HAM users of WINLINK. An edited version of items from the Catalog can be seen on another page of this site.

High Seas Forecasts	Atlantic (mainly Tropical) Weather	Indian Ocean	Western Pacific	South Pacific
Canadian Great Lakes	Newfoundland Weather	British Columbia Weather	Arctic weather	Labrador Weather
Bermuda, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico Weather	Brazil Weather	South Africa	Coasts of Mainland USA	Guam
Maritimes Weather	US Navtex texts	US Offshore Forecasts	WEFAX Charts	Satellite Pictures
				INMARSAT-C and METAREAs

MailASail is another service ideally suited for those with bandwidth problems. Forecasts from a selected list can be chosen and an email request sent. Response is virtually instantaneous. See the MailASail page on this site.

Synoptic actual and Forecast Charts

Links to charts are available in a concise form on my Chart Page and with much explanation on the Essential Sites page.

Forecasts by email

The above links require Internet access. At sea, it may be possible only to send and receive emails. In such cases, the NWS (Washington) FTP service might be useful.. For details go to Martin Stubbs' site. This is a free service and the only costs will be for the email links in both directions. Charts can also be obtained in the same manner. These come in TIF format; files are likely to be some 70 kBytes and to receive them might be expensive, but useful on occasions when other communications have failed.

GRIB coded forecast charts are very economical to receive over a GSM, satellite phone or by email over HF radio links. Some, fairly basic, services are free - see the GRIB page. Some very specific services - at a price - see the email page, for more specific details of one service (from Météo France) see the Navimail page .