| This page was originally prepared as a comprehensive amendment to the various Western Mediterranean Pilot books for the Mediterranean Section of the Cruising Association. With some minor amendments and some additions for the Eastern Mediterranean, it is reproduced here. The Med Section is very active and a very good reason for becoming a member of the CA. | The page will be updated from time
to time on the basis of my experience and information from others -
watch this space, or, rather, the latest issue date at the |
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Introduction |
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| I never cease to be amazed when I meet yachtsmen who have sailed all round
Spain from the Portuguese border to Barcelona and have never heard an
English forecast on VHF. I can only imagine that they have read and
believed some of the older Pilot books that we had on Anhinga in 2000 on
our way to the Mediterranean..
This page is based on personal experience supplemented by my erstwhile professional knowledge,
talking to sailors, reference to the Spanish Met Service web
site, the Livre de Bord and le Guide Marine de Météo France. For links to
these click |
Texts of GMDSS weather forecasts can be received in six ways and it is prudent to be conversant with at least three;
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NOTE |
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Marine Radio Services |
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Spain |
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| Weather Forecasts on VHF in English and Spanish are as in the following table. During the day the period covered is for "today until midnight". There is no outlook. During the evening the period changes to be until tomorrow midnight. However, the Spanish Met service issues gale warnings up to about three days ahead and may indicate the likely duration. They are able to do this because the conditions for such winds as the Mistral and the strong winds through the Gibraltar Strait are easy to forecast. To the sailor, the winds may appear to set in suddenly but the conditions in terms of | winds may appear to set in suddenly but the conditions in terms of the pressure pattern are well known. Modern computerized forecasting makes the prediction straightforward. All broadcasts cover the nearby Sea Areas and most include Coastal Waters, also in English, except for (at least in 2000) those from Almería. From the north, the Spanish mainland coastal waters are (as far as I can determine) Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia, Alicante, Murcia, Almería, Málaga. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Some stations, eg Huelva and Cádiz are useful when entering the Med from
the west. As far as I recollect, these cover waters around Huelva, Cádiz,
Cabo Trafalgar and Tarifa (this area may have been referred to as
Algeçiras).
Near the Strait of Gibraltar there are various forecasts on Radio Gibraltar, BFBS and Central FM but, mostly, these cover only a very limited area. The Palma broadcast that covers the Baléares can be difficult to receive, even around Mallorca, because they do not have any repeater stations. Better reception might be achieved by using the Spanish language broadcast in the table below. Texts of the Baléares forecast are usually on display in marinas and can be obtained as a quick download from the internet, click here for details. |
Areas used in the Baléares are :-
Dragonera to Formentor, Formentor to Capdepera, Capdepera to
Salinas, Coasts of Cabrera, Salinas to Dragonera, North of Menorca,
South of Menorca, East of Pitiusas, West of Pitiusas, Menorca
Channel, Mallorca Channel. Note that las Pitiusas is the collective
name for Ibiza, Espalmador and Formentera.
Forecasts in Spanish only on VHF and MF are as in the next table. These are only for Coastal Waters, but they include actual reports from well known locations. They are often produced by computer generated voice and can be difficult to understand unless you have good Spanish. However, by listening to the dual language broadcasts it is possible to get the gist of the Spanish only versions. This is useful when you are in an area of poor reception - it increases the likelihood of getting a weather forecast. |
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* Forecasts from Málaga include areas around Melilla on the North African coast
and Isla Alborán.
** Channels given here are the latest known to me. Listen to the call on Ch 16 and be prepared to hunt for the best signal.. *** This broadcast may be at other times also. This broadcast is in sections covering Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia, Alicante, |
Murcia and the Balearics. Mainland areas
are usually given in groups. It is a long broadcast and the synopsis
is likely to be repeated one or more times.
Occasionally, Marinas have a very useful plasticized card listing all the broadcasts in the above tables.
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France |
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| Coastal waters forecasts produced by Météo-France are broadcast, in French (only), from CROSS (French Coastguard) stations. The delivery speed is usually slow enough o be understood with a little practice. Morning forecasts cover today/tonight and tomorrow in reasonable detail. This is | followed by "phenomenon important" normally for a two further days, sometimes longer. The evening forecast gives tonight, tomorrow and the following day again followed by "phenomenon important". Schedules are as follows | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The forecasts from Monaco (3AC) on SSB and VHF Ch 20 start with a broadcast in French. This is followed by the announcer clarifying the forecast to callers. The forecast is then repeated in English (not at 1403 LT). These forecasts include a brief outlook. In CROSS and some Monaco broadcasts, the French is often slow enough, sometimes with repetitions, to be easily understood. Monaco tends to be a little fast on the continuous VHF broadcast. Practice helps and, with a little perseverance, even the faster deliveries become comprehensible. The French version may be easier to understand than the English version read by a Frenchman at speed! | It is useful to see some of the |
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Italy(Apologies for the length of this section, but there is so much to say. Italian authorities, please read this and the NAVTEX section below!) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All routine broadcasts on Italian marine VHF are computer voice generated. The clarity is very good with a significant improvement in 2007 with two very good female voices and the same voice used throughout a transmission. Otherwise, I am sorry to have to say that the Italian marine weather service is very poor. There is a continuous METEOMAR weather broadcast on VHF Ch 68, in Italian followed by English. The forecast comprises a 12 hour forecast and a 12 hour outlook for Italian sea areas followed by the same for the rest of the Mediterranean in large areas. There is then a further outlook of 4 12-hour forecasts of wind and sea state (in the Douglas Sea Scale), but only for the Italian sea areas. These are useful once you realise that they probably refer to a single point in an area rather than the whole area. The total broadcast takes about 20 minutes, 10 minutes in each language. It is updated four times daily. Learning the Italian terminology, shortens the agony! MRCCs at Genoa, Rome, Cagliari etc broadcast forecasts after a call on Ch 16. These are at 6 hour intervals from 0733 UTC. They are, also, in English and Italian and are simply excerpts of the Ch 68 broadcast. Problems are that there seems to be poor quality control of the output. VHF broadcasts can be curtailed at various stages. The texts are needlessly long and repetitive with many redundant and unnecessary words. The warnings section at the start of a broadcast is far too long and repetitive compared, for example, with French marine forecasts which simply say that there are |
warnings in force. That alerts the sailor to listen carefully because the relevant information will be within the forecast text. The English translations are somewhat curious and can be confusing, especially to those whose first language is not English. There is little or no local detail given although, in 2007 I noticed some attempt to mention strong winds in the Bonifacio Strait, for example, Sea breezes are referred to as “Wind increasing coastward”. However, they are inconsistent and there is little attempt to refer to variations across a large area such as the North Ionian. For each 12 hour period only one wind is quoted, unrealistically, for the whole sea area. This is totally unreasonable, meteorologically. Occasionally, forecasts say that wind is increasing or decreasing or changing direction, but usually not to what force or direction. When in or near the Bonifacio Strait, it is almost certainly more useful to listen to the French forecast on VHF Channel 79. These forecasts cover the northern section of Sardinia, and normally give good and ample warning of strong winds through the Strait. The same is true for French NAVTEX weather broadcasts. Similarly, in the Adriatic, Croatian forecasts give better and more localised information. The provision of forecasts for areas beyond Italian waters is pointless and simply lengthens broadcasts. Vessels needing forecasts for these areas are best advised to use the relevant broadcasts on VHF, NAVTEX. HF/SSB radio and INMARSAT-C from France, Greece and Spain. |
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The Adriatic |
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For Croatia, there are scheduled broadcasts in Croat, first, then
English. The forecast is followed by navigation warnings, which can mean
a long wait (10 - 15 minutes) before the forecast in English.
The texts are virtually the same as on |
forecast charts eg from |
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Greece |
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The Greek Met service produces one marine forecast. Apart from NAVTEX,
each source will give forecasts for all the sea areas listed below in the order
shown. Subsets of this are broadcast on NAVTEX 518 kHz. Forecasts are for 24
hours with a 12 hour outlook. Perhaps wisely, given the complex topography,
there is no attempt at inshore waters forecasts. The sailor has to make his own
judgements regarding local effects. For VHF and NAVTEX, forecasts are issued at
0200, 0800, 1400 and 2000 UTC. The entire text of the 0200 and 1400 issues,
broadcast by INMARSAT-C. are available as |
The only real criticism is that the warnings section. as for the Italian forecasts, is far too long. A note that there are warnings in force and, perhaps, the areas affected, should be sufficient to catch the attention of the listener. French and British marine forecasts set good examples. |
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Eastern Mediterranean Sea Areas - See the chartlet on North Adriatic, Central Adriatic, South Adriatic, Boot, Melita, Gabes, Sidra, North Ionio, South Ionio, Patraikos, Korinthiakos, Kithira Sea, Southwest Kritiko, Southeast Kritiko Ierapetra, Taurus, Delta, Crusade, Kastellorizo Sea, Rodos Sea, Karpathio, West Kritiko, East Kritiko, Southwest Aegean, Southeast Aegean Ikario, Samos Sea, Saronikos, South Evvoikos, Kafireas Strait, Central Aegean, Northwest Aegean, Northeast Aegean, Thrakiko, Thermaikos, Marmara, West Black Sea, East Black Sea. |
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Turkey |
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| Theoretically the Turkish coastguard will give a forecast (in English) on request, but those trying this say that they have only had success at offices on land. The Turkish coastguard also broadcast (in English) announcements | on Ch 16 of forecasts on Ch 67, but this seems to be
irregular and not 100% coverage. Forecast texts are at my |
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NAVTEX and INMARSAT |
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Under the provisions of the GMDSS, text forecasts for sea areas in the
Mediterranean are broadcast on NAVTEX. Details are on my NAVTEX page for
the |
Texts of the French
INMARSAT - C forecast for the Western Med and texts of the INMARSAT-C
Greek forecast for the Eastern Med are broadcast by Monaco 3AC. See the
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Notes on NAVTEX in the Mediterranean |
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Forecast periods in NAVTEX broadcasts which are part of the GMDSS should
be for 24 hours with a brief 24 hour outlook. The French Forecasts from Toulon are
produced in this way. Some NAVTEX broadcasts are extra to the GMDSS
programme and do not necessarily conform. For example, the Spanish
forecasts in the morning are until midnight but the evening forecasts
cover until "midnight tomorrow". Spanish forecasts do not give an outlook
but they do frequently issue warnings of near gale and gale force winds
(ie F7+) for up to about three days ahead.
T In the evening NAVTEX broadcasts around 1900 UTC. the first 12 hours of the forecast is “For today until 1800”. The outlook is then from 1800 today until 0600 tomorrow. I have no explanation for this. It is all very odd and, again, casts doubt on the competence of the Italian marine weather service. A serious problem is that there is no overlap between areas |
From the above, it will be realised that I regard the Italian NAVTEX weather service as unnecessarily poor. There seems to be no understanding of user needs. There seems, also, to be a wilful disregard for IMO guidance on the content and format of broadcasts. Croatian NAVTEX forecasts are for a 12 hour period and a 12 hour outlook with no further outlook. They cover the whole of the Adriatic in one forecast but, in the text, they refer to the Northern, Central and Southern Adriatic.The weather content of Greek NAVTEX forecasts is as good as is
possible given the very complex topography, except that they give only
a NAVTEX reception, on the whole is remarkably good. We received la Garde
all around Sardinia. On the
other hand, at Sanary sur Mer we could not receive la Garde, even though
we could nearly see Toulon. We found it to be very good in the Adriatic
and, given the somewhat idiosyncratic English of Croatian forecasts,
easier and more reliable than VHF broadcasts.
See my |
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Radio Fax | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offenbach and Northwood are the only two fax broadcasts that I have been
able to receive. Synoptic charts may not be very useful for yachtsmen in
 the Summer since Mediterranean weather can be very localised and pressure
patterns not well defined. However, Northwood does broadcast charts of
forecasts with wind vectors twice a day. These are for two days to five
days ahead. The wind vectors show the wind direction with "feathers"
giving speed. One long feather = 10 knots, one short feather = 5 kn. SW 20
knots
and N 25 knots would be as shown here.
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The forecast charts can be useful to indicate when NW winds are likely to cause Mistral or similar types of wind. Look for a cold front crossing France from the west or a low forming in the Gulf of Genoa. They do, also, give some indication of a change from Levanter to Poniente through the Gibraltar Strait. Full Schedules are available on the Internet, see my GMDSS page for details. RadioFax may not last many more years, There have been industry discussions regarding possible replacement systems. These are likely to be satellite based and may not be yachtsman friendly. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Radio Teleprinter |
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| To my mind, one of the most valuable of all forecast services comes from the Offenbach Radio Teleprinter broadcasts of 5 day forecasts (wind and sea state at 12 hour intervals). These are extremely useful in that they give several days warning of such major winds as the Mistral and Tramontane, thus allowing sensible planning for passage making across the Golfe du Lion and other such gale prone areas. Other Offenbach outputs are two day forecasts (wind, weather and sea state at 6 hourly intervals), area forecasts for the next 24 hours and actual reports from a small selection of stations.. The 2 and 5 day forecasts are direct output from the German numerical weather prediction model. Programme 1 (mainly in English) is on 4583, 7646 (both at 1 kW power) and 10100.8 kHz (10 kW power). I usually used the last two of these. Programme 2 (mainly in German) is on 11039 and 14467.3 kHz (both at 1 kW power). I frequently had to tune up or down one or two kHz. The 2 and 5 day (Western) Mediterranean forecasts are for points named as Golfe du Lion, Balearic Islands, Ligurian Sea, W of Corse/Sard and Tyrrhenian Sea. (The names in the German language version are a little different.) Lat/longs are given. The Western European Sea and the Western | Mediterranean forecasts give guidance relating to winds through the Strait of Gibraltar but only for two days ahead.
Most forecasts are repeated so that reception should be possible even if you have to have more than one go. For those with no German, Tief = Low, Hoch = High. The first two letters of the days of the week from Sunday on are SO, MO, DI, MI, DO, FR, SA. Germans run words together so that Suedostziehend = moving south-eastwards.
Reception of both Radio Fax and Teleprinter can be very dependent upon time of day and location. Sometimes I could not receive the 10100.8 kHz (15 kW) transmission at 0415 UTC but could receive the 11039 kHz (1 kW) one at 0535. Mains transformers and inverters both can cause interference. Experiment by running the PC on its internal battery during reception periods.
Full Schedules are available on the Internet, see my |
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National and Local Radio |
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| For those with better than average French, Radio Bleue (Ajaccio 1404, Nice 1557, Bastia 1494, Marseilles 1242 kHz) have marine forecasts at about 0655 LT. Similarly for other local and Regional radio services. France Inter on 162 kHz is another possibility, it gives sea area forecasts for the northern half of the Med at 2003 LT. I found the latter very fast (so, according to a French yachtsman, do the French!) There are similar services available in other countries. Sometimes forecasts are in English and/or German. | For German speakers there are forecasts on German radio at 1755 Lt and on Austrian radio at 1815 LT. Most national TV stations now have weather forecasts of some form. Sometimes they are useful to sailors. Much depends upon the station controller, his audience figures and his own interest. For example, Greek TV broadcasts forecasts with synoptic charts at (I think) 2100 or 2130 watchable in bars. Turkish TV is more rudimentary. Both in local language. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Premium rated telephone etc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| There are several services provided by Météo France for French Coastal Waters and Sea Areas further afield, similar to MetFax and MarineCall in the UK The private firm Météo Consult offers services covering all of the Mediterranean (and other areas such as the Baltic and Eastern Atlantic). MetMarine, with Météo France, provide Mediterranean marine weather forecasts in English, via the Internet, FREEPHONE, and via SMS text with wave heights. Charges for viewing the multi day forecasts and synoptic charts via the web are 2€ (£1.40) for 2 hours. To use the FREEPHONE service simply dial 0800 9000 51 in France and follow the instructions; To hear a | are 2€ (£1.40) demonstration, subscribe or access the service when in England dial 087 0064 1777. To receive the wave heights or storm warnings via SMS the costs for each warning or wave height list sent. Prices include VAT.
For more information please visit the |
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Internet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Many products are now available on the Internet. These include charts from the UK Met Office and other centres, some of the RTTY products of Offenbach, many GMDSS forecasts, texts of French and Spanish coastal waters forecasts etc. This is fine if you are ashore with land line telephone access. It is a different matter if afloat and trying to use a GSM telephone. The bandwidth is too low to allow downloading of much information, especially in picture form. If you keep to text information then you can download direct to a palm top computer. Use direct links, to access (at no charge) the texts of broadcasts |
under the GMDSS. Alternatively, you could access some of the information from the |
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Forecasts by email | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| sending and receiving email as can satellite telephone and, when near the coast, GSM or GPRS telephones. For some general notes and links on these topics see the page on |
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HF and HAM Radio |
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I have had a demo of HAM radio from Ross a liveaboard, circumnavigating Australian on Gemini, a 49 footer with (by my standards) space and power supplies galore. Those with the time, inclination, ability etc plus the necessary facilities can access much of the above information at no charge - apart from their licence fee etc - via HAM radio using Winlink. Winlink holds a Catalog of "standard" items that users find useful or have been recommended.
As I understand it, the |
and picks it up. Many weather products have duplicate URLs in case one is down or not up to date. Winlink usually has at least one backup URL for each product listed.
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Marina Offices |
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| Many marinas and harbour offices display forecasts from varying sources. These may be the National Met Service, private Met firms, the Internet etc. The quality may, therefore be somewhat uneven and forecasts from the different sources may not tally. As ever, the sailor is faced with conflicting advice and has to make a judgement based on experience. Because of my background I generally prefer the National Met Service versions. In French marinas, I have been able to compare Météo France forecasts on VHF (and occasionally in text) with texts from Météo Consult (occasionally) and a firm called Météorem (frequently). Marinas often have Météorem forecasts because, being sponsored by marine firms, they are free of charge. | Although I have not compiled any statistics, my impression is that Météo France is usually the most reliable. Météorem, on a number of occasions, bore little relation to other forecasts. Other people may, of course, have different experiences. WARNING - a general warning for all forecasts, but particularly those posted in marinas and elsewhere, is to check the date and time of issue. I have often seen out of date forecasts being studied carefully by yachtsmen. Marina staff sometimes seem unaware that a forecast issued three days ago for today will be less reliable than one issued today. |
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Radio Nets |
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| There are various HAM radio nets that provide a useful exchange of information. Usually, one contributor will give a run down of the weather situation. These are only as good as the information input and the person | providing the summary. Most of the data sources are either on this page, the Mediterranean Section of my |
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Appendix - Radio Teleprinter messages |
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Because of reception
problems these often have varying degrees of corruption. By knowing the form of
the messages and by using the notes below it is
often possible to make some sense of what may seem utter garbage at first sight.
The most useful service, strictly for planning purposes, is a five day
forecast with winds at 12 hour intervals . An example is given below as
received.
The 5 day forecast is
only available on RTTY. However, forecasts for the next 3 days at 6 hourly
intervals also at grid points is on the Internet. See the
DWD link.
A sample message
The following is the 5
day forecast broadcast by "Offenbach", strictly speaking, Pinnenburg on May 31,
2001 at 0415 UTC, ie at 0615 LT. It was received on board Anhinga in the harbour
at Viareggio (15 miles north of Livorno) on the west coast of Italy.. The
frequency was 10100.8 kHz USB.
CQ CQ CQ DE DDK2 DDH7
DDK9
FREQUENCIES 4583 KHZ
7646 KHZ 10100.8 KHZ
RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRY
ZCZC 207
FEMM74 EDZW 310000
MEDIUM RANGE - WEATHER
AND SEA BULLETIN FOR THE
MEDITERRANEAN SEA ISSUED
BY MARINE WEATHER SERVICE HAMBURG
31.05.2001 04 UTC:
GENERAL SYNOPTIC
SITUATION
HIGH 1020 SARDINIA
WEAKENING. LOW 1013 SPAIN WEAKENING A
LITTLE, STATIONARY. LOW
1003 SYRIA, STATIONARY. LOW 988
WHITE RUSSIA MOVING
NORTHEAST SLOWLY. LARGE HIGH FRIDAY
1037 NORTH OF THE AZORES
STATIONARY. RIDGE FRIDAY 1025
BRITTANY NEARLY
UNCHANGED. LOW FRIDAY 1004)BULGARIA
WEAKENING, MOVING EAST.
LOW FRIDAY 1008 NORTHERN ITALY
MOVING SOUTHEAST. TEXT
ZENDE
FORECASTS OF TH,
31.05.2001 00 UTC:
WIND FORCE BEAUFORT,
WAVE HEIGHT METRE
GOLFE DU LION (42.2N
4.5E) SST: 19 C
FR 01. 12Z: NW-N 6-7 / 8
3 M //
SA 02. 00Z: NW 7-8 / 9
2. //
SA 02. 12Z: NW 7 / 8-9 2
MN//
SU . 00Z: NW 7 / 8-9 2 M
//
SU 03. 12Z: NW 8 / 10
3.5 M //
MO 04. 00Z: NW-N 7-8 /
9-10 3 M //
MO 04. 12Z: NW-N 3 / 6-7
1 M //
TU 05. 00Z: S 3-4 / 0.5
M //
TU 05. 12Z: SE-S 4-5 /
0.5 M //
WE 06. 00Z: SE-S 4-5 / 1
M //
WE 06. 12Z: SE 4-5 / 0.5
M /
BALEARIC ISLANDS (39.4N
3.7E) SST: 19 C
FR 01. 12Z: N-NE 4-5 /
05 M //
SA 02. 00Z: N 2-3 / 1 M
//
SA 02. 12Z: NE 0-2 / 1 M
//
SU 03. 00Z: SE 0-2 / 1 M
//
SU 03. 12Z: NE 2-3 / 1 M
//
MO 04. 00Z: W 2-3 / 1.5
M //
MO 04. 12Z: S-SW 0-2 / 1
M //
TU 05. 00Z: SE-S 3 / 0.5
M //
TU 05. 12Z: SE 4 / 0.5 M
//
WE 06. 00Z: E-SE 3-4 /
0.5 M //
WE 06. 12Z: SE 3-4 / 0.5
M //
LIGURIAN SEA (43.3N
9.3E) SST: 19 C
FR 01. 12Z: N 5 / 0.5 M
//
SA 02. 00Z: NE 5 / 1 M
//
SA 02. 12Z: NE 0-2 / 0.5
M //
SU 03. 00Z: NW-N 2-3 /
0.5 M //
SU 03. 12Z: NW-N 4 / 0.5
M //
MO 04. 00Z: N 5-6 / 1 M
//
MO 04. 12Z: N-NE 0-2 /
0.5 M //
TU 05. 00Z: SE 0-2 / 0.5
M //
TU 05. 12Z: SE 0-2 / 0.5
M //
WE 06. 00Z: SE 2-3 / 0.5
M //
WE 06. 12Z: SE 3 / 0.5 M
//
W OF CORSE/SARD. (41.4N
7.2E) SST: 19 C
FR 01. 12Z: NW-N 5 / 6-7
2.5 M //
SA 02. 00Z: NW-N 3-4 / 2
M //
SA 02. 12Z: NW 4-5 / 1.5
M //
SU 03. 00Z: NW 7 / 8-9
2.5 M //
SU 03. 12Z: NW 7 / 10 4
M //
MO 04. 00Z: NW-N 2-3 /
2.5 M //
MO 04. 12Z: SE-S 0-2 /
1.5 M //
TU 05. 00Z: SE 0-2 / 0.5
M //
TU 05. 12Z: S-SW 2-3 /
0.5 M //
WE 06. 00Z: ?? 2-4 / 0.5
M //
WE 06. 12Z: SE 2-3 / 0.5
M //
TYRRHENIAN SEA (41.5N
10.5E) SST: 18 C
FR 01. 12Z: NW-N 3-4 /
0.5 M //
SA 02. 00Z: NW-N 4-5 /
1.5 M //
SA 02. 12Z: N 0-2 / 1 M
//
SU 03. 00Z: W 5 / 1 M //
SU 03. 12Z: NW-N 5 / 2 M
//
MO 04. 00Z: NW-N 4-5 / 2
M //
MO 04. 12Z: N-NE 3-4 /
1.5 M //
TU 05. 00Z: SE-S 0-2 /
0.5 M //
TU 05. 12Z: SE-S 3-4 /
0.5 M //
WE 06. 00Z: SE-S 4 / 0.5
M //
WE 06. 12Z: SE-S 4-5 /
0.5 M //
ADRIA-NORTH (44.3N
13.5E) SST: 20 C
FR 01. 12Z: N-NE 3 / 0.5
M //
SA 02. 00Z: N-NE 4-5 / 1
M //
SA 02. 12Z: NE 3-4 / 0.5
M //
SU 03. 00Z: NE 2-3 / 0.5
M //
SU 03. 12Z: N 3-4 / 0.5
M //
MO 04. 00Z: NE 5-6 / 7 1
M //
MO 04. 12Z: N 3-4 / 0.5
M //
TU 05. 00Z: S 2-3 / 0.5
M //
TU 05. 12Z: SE-S 0-2 /
0.5 M //
WE 06. 00Z: S 2-3 / 0.5
M //
WE 06. 12Z: SE 0-2 / 0.5
M //
ADRIA-SOUTH (42.0N
17.8E) SST: 20 C
FR 01. 12Z: S-SW 0-2 /
0.5 M //
SA 02. 00Z: N 4 / 0.5 M
//
SA 02. 12Z: N 2-3 / 0.5
M //
SU 03. 00Z: NW 0-2 / 0.5
M //
SU 03. 12Z: SE 2-3 / 0.5
M //
MO 04. 00Z: NW-N 4-5 /
0.5 M //
MO 04. 12Z: NW-N 6 / 7
1.5 M //
TU 05. 00Z: NW-N 6 / 7
1.5 M //
TU 05. 12Z: NW 5-6 / 6-7
1 M //
WE 06. 00Z: NW 4 / 0.5 M
//
WE 06. 12Z: W-NW 2-3 /
0.5 M //
IONIAN SEA (37.4N 19.2E)
SST: 21 C
FR 01. 12Z: SW 4 / 0.5 M
//
SA 02. 00Z: SW 4-5 / 0.5
M //
SA 02. 12Z: SW-W 3 / 0.5
M //
SU 03. 00Z: W-NW 2-3 /
0.5 M //
SU 03. 12Z: SW-W 3 / 0.5
M //
MO 04. 00Z: W-NW 5-6 /
6-7 1 M //
MO 04. 12Z: NW 6 / 7 2 M
//
TU 05. 00Z: NW-N 7 / 8
2.5 M //
TU 05. 12Z: NW-N 6-7 /
8-9 3 M //
WE 06. 00Z: NW-N 6 / 7-8
2.5 M //
WE 06. 12Z: NW 4-5 / 6-7
1.5 M //
AEGEAN SEA-N. (39.0N
25.2E) SST: 19 C
FR 01. 12Z: S 4-5 / 0.5
M //
SA 02. 00Z: S-SW 4-5 /
6-7 0.5 M //
SA 02. 12Z: S-SW 2-3 /
0.5 M //
SU 03. 00Z: E-SE 2-3 /
0.5 M //
SU 03. 12Z: SE 3 / 0.5 M
//
MO 04. 00Z: SE-S 4-5 /
0.5 M //
MO 04. 12Z: SW 3-4 / 1 M
//
TU 05. 00Z: NW 6 / 7 1 M
//
TU 05. 12Z: NW 6-7 / 8 2
M //
WE 06. 00Z: NW 6 / 7 1.5
M //
WE 06. 12Z: NW-N 4 / 6-7
1 M //
AEGEAN SEA-S. (36.3N
25.5E) SST: 20 C
FR 01. 12Z: SW 0-2 / 0.5
M //
SA 02. 00Z: S-SW 0-2 /
0.5 M //
SA 02. 12Z: SW-W 0-2 /
0.5 M //
SU 03. 00Z: SW-W 0-2 /
0.5 M //
SU 03. 12Z: SW 0-2 / 0.5
M //
MO 04. 00Z: SW-W 4-5 /
0.5 M //
MO 04. 12Z: SW-W 5-6 / 7
2 M //
TU 05. 00ZAPW 4-5 / 2.5
M //
TU 05. 12Z: N 4-5 / 1.5
M //
WE 06. 00Z: NW 4 / 1.5 M
//
WE 06. 12Z: NW 4 / 1.5 M
//
RHODES/CYPR (35.0N
30.4E) SST: 21 C
FR 01. 12Z: NE 0-2 / 0.5
M //
SA 02. 00Z: N-NE 0-2 /
0.5 M //
SA 02. 12Z: W-NW 3 / 0.5
M //
SU 03. 0Z: W 3-4 / 0.5 M
//
SU 03. 12Z: W 4-5 / 0.5
M //
MO 04. 00Z: W 3-
/ 0.5 M //
MO 04. 12Z: SW-W 4-5 /
0.5 M //
TU 05. 00Z: W 5 / 1 M //
TU 05. 12Z: W 5-6 / 1.5
M //
WE 06. 00Z: W-NW 6-7 /
7-8 2 M //
WE 06. 12Z: W-NW 6-7 / 8
2 M //
BAY OF BISCAY (46.4N
5.7W) SST: 16 C
FR 01. 12Z: NE 3-4 / 1 M
//
SA 02. 00Z: NW-N 4 / 1 M
//
SA PWM QWZ: NW 4 / 1 M
//
SU 03. 00Z: N 4 / 1 M //
SU 03. 12Z: E 4 / 1.5 M
//
MO 04. 00Z: E 4-5 / 0.5
M //
MO 04. 12Z: E-SE 5 ? 1.5
M //
TU 05. 00Z: SW 4-5 / 195
M //
TU 05. 12Z: W 5-6 / 6-7
2 M //
WE 06. 00Z: SW-W 4-5 /
1.5 M //
WE 06. 12Z: SW 5-6 / 7 2
M //
...SCHWARZMEER?W...
(43.3N 30.8E) SST: 15 C
FR 01. 12Z: SE 5-6 / 7-8
1.5 M //
SA 02. 00Z: NW 4-5 / 1 M
//
SA 02. 12Z: NW-N 3 / 1 M
//
SU 03. 00Z: N-NE 0-2 /
0.5 M /
SU 03. 12Z: NE-E 3-4 /
0.5 M //
MO 04. 00Z: E 4-5 / 0.5
M //
MO 04. 12Z: E 4 / 1 M //
TU 05. 00Z: SW 4 / 1 M
//
TU 05. 12Z: W 6-7 / 8 2
M //
WE 06. 00Z: SW-W 5-6 / 7
1.5 M //
WE 06. 12Z: W 2-3 / 1 M
//
...SCHWARZMEER?E...
(43.6N 35.3E) SST: 16 C
FR 01. 12Z: E-SE 5-6 /
0.5 M //
SA 02. 00Z: S 4-5 / 8
1.5 M //
SA 02. 12Z: W 4 / 1 M //
SU 03. 00Z: NW-N 2-3 /
0.5 M //
SU 03. 12Z: NE-E 3-4 /
0.5 M //
MO 04. 00Z: NE-E 4 / 0.5
M //
MO 04. 12Z: E 4-5 / 0.5
M //
TU 05. 00Z: NW-N 4 0.5 M
//
TU 05. 12Z: SW-W 6-7
?005 M //
WE 06. 00Z: W 5-6 / 8 2
M //
WE 06. 12Z: S 3-4 / 1 M
//
LEGEND: GRIDPOINT
FORECASTS:
WIND: DIRECTION, FORCE
(SPEED)/
GUSTS PAST 12 HRS
SIGNIFICANT TOTAL WAVE
HEIGHT(M)//
SST: SEA SURFACE
TEMPERATURE (DEG C)
--- MEANS: NO VALUE
AVAILABLE
FORECASTS ARE VALID FOR
THE AREA CENTRE
AND ARE BASED ON
MODEL-COMPUTATION OF
DEUTSCHER WETTERDIENST
(GERMAN WEATHER
SERVICE)=
NNNN |
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Dealing with corrupt messages |
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| Teleprinter keyboards have only three banks of keys and no lower case letters. If a character shift gets lost then character transpositions occur such as Q, W, E, R, T, Y, U, I, O, P for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0. The decimal point . is on key M, the slash / is on X and the hyphen - is on A. Other possibilities are + (plus) for Z, : (colon) for C, = (equals) for V, ? (query) for B, , (comma) for N, ' (apostrophe) for S, # (hash) for D, ( (open brackets) for K and ) (close brackets) for L. | Thus, PMT could be 0.5 (for wave height) and EAR could be 3-4 for wind force. PPZ will be 00Z, QW, where a time might be could be 12. Conversely, a 2 or a 3 where a wind direction might be could be West or East. I download on to my laptop and then try to make sense of such garbling. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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