Wind and waves

[dhhurlburt]

Left this morning with the forecast of 2-3 mph NW winds. Thinking the lake should be pretty flat, I was surprised to see white caps and rollers with winds at 12 knots out at 200 fow. It's too much for my 18ft aluminum, so we went home. What is a good source for wind and waves? And why is there 3 knot winds on the shore and 12 knot winds 2 miles out?

 

Thanks for the help

[bandrus1]

12 NW is all ya needed to know for a boat that size

 

I fish a 19.5 and anything over 10 mph nw and I'm fishing Cayuga

[dhhurlburt]

I agree, but the weather report didnt mention anything about a 12 NW. We "found" it on our way out. I'm looking for a more reliable weather source.

[weave]

I suspect most every site is probably using the same models for wind and weather prediction. They are just presenting the data differently.


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[Frogger]

Try www.windfinder.com. Regarding wind, seems pretty good.


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[Kingme2Go]

NOAA marine offshore forecast will give wind and waves by zone.. updated every 4 hours

https://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/data//raw/fz/fzus61.kbuf.glf.lo.txt

 

For nearshore... Closer than 5 miles from shore by zone including lake erie

https://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/data/raw/fz/fzus51.kbuf.nsh.buf.txt

[NymphO]

To be blunt, they all suck. Direction is mostly correct on them all, but actual speed and wave height is rarely accurate. I base mine off a combo of weather underground, wind finder, and noaa. I also watch the olcott webcam like a hawk prior to a trip. I've pretty much figured out what's actually going on by that cam. If you find one that's 90% accurate, please, please, please share with us !!!

[UNREEL]

NymphO is right on with using a combo of reports. Fishing out of I-Bay I use WindAlert for direction and speed. Also web cams in Webster NY and a Coast Guard weather station on Summerville pier at Rochester harbor. Station #RPRN6. Also the NOAA marine forecast for laughs.    Even with all that it's still a crap shoot

[Sk8man]

Using multiple reports and then looking at those that give an hourly breakdown of the wind velocity and direction can sometimes be useful. NymphO did hit the nail on the head though in terms of track record as they all can be inaccurate frequently. They seem to generally be more accurate on direction than wind speed too. One of the prime determinants for me is exactly where I am going to fish whether on a given Finger Lake or Lake O. The projected wind direction is the major determinant for me especially when taking a chance on velocity. The decision can be quite different for example on Lake O depending on where you intend to launch and fish out of. If you are located mid lake on the south shore and the wind is out of the NW or perhaps NE or due N (at any speed) the odds of having a good time out there aren't in your favor. Even an excessive southerly wind may be fine out to a certain depth or distance north but out deeper you may have white caps when the wind speed picks up because it has time and space to build. Having a "plan B" is always important and luckily we have so many other waters relatively nearby. Back when they had the ESLO derbies in the Spring I always launched from Sodus Point because I knew that if the wind cranked up I could usually fish the bay (and even that could get rough sometimes forcing me to sit  on the tailgate of my truck sipping a beer hoping things would lay down). Back then there wasn't all the info available on weather conditions as there is today so you could have a long journey to the lake from home before you even knew the actual conditions (e.g. no webcams or buoy info etc.). So I guess regardless of the current limitations we've discussed it is still a lot better stuff to evaluate than in the past, so maybe taking things with a grain of salt and appreciating what we presently have is worth considering