Having a Feel for the Weather; Understanding the Basics; Proximity--A Key Ingredient; Using This Book; Background Data; Our Approach at Sea

Weather Reports; Stay In Touch; Register Your Book; Visit Us On the Internet

Insolation; Effect on The Atmosphere; Global Weather Patterns; Seasonal Variations; Effects of Differences in Pressure; Coriolis Effect; Evaporation ; Condensation; Weather on a Global Scale; Local Weather Patterns; Backing and Veering Winds; Wind Flow in Highs and Lows

Birth of a Depression; Warm Fronts; Cold Fronts; Frontal Speed; Occluded Fronts; Stationary Fronts; Secondary Depressions

Wind Strength; Messages in the Clouds; The Barometer; Along the South African Coast; Wind Direction; Gust Factors; Data from Other Yachts; What the Waves Tell You; Anomalies; Finding Pressure Centers

General Categories of Clouds; Cirrus; Cirrocumulus; Cirrostratus; Altocumulus; Altostratus; Stratus; Nimbostratus; Cumulonimbus; Cumulus

National Weather Service's Marine Prediction Center; Upper Level Conditions; Computer Modeling; Forecast Cycle; Budget Issues; When You're at Sea; Who Are the Forecasters?

Common Terms

Antenna Selection; Onboard Interference; Band Conditions; Receiving Voice Forecasts; Nets and Weather Relays

Dedicated Fax or Computer?; At the Beginning of a Passage; Symbols; Sample Fax Charts; Interpreting Surface Fax Charts; Compression Zones; Tropical and Subtropical Lows; Isobar Curvature and Wind Speed

3-D Low Structure; Divergence; 3-D High Structure; Convergence; Upper-Level Westerlies; Meandering Upper-Level Winds; Ridges and Troughs

500mb Fax Charts; The Professional's View; Surface Weather Review; What Is a 500mb Contour?; Relative Heights; 5,640-Meter Height Contour; Rules of Thumb; 500mb Atmospheric Waves; Long Waves; Short Waves; Wave Interaction; Picking Out Waves; Short Waves and Surface Lows; Short Wave Trough Life Cycle; Short Wave Trough Interaction; Zonal Pattern; Streams of Flow; Meridional Pattern; Topographic Influences; Ridge Blocking Patterns; Cut-Off Lows; Making Use of 500mb Charts; When Isoheights Are Missing; In the Tropics

Zonal to Meridional Transition; Meridional Behavior; Trough Axis Orientation; Cut-Off Low Triggers; Longer Term Weather Patterns; Using Cloud Patterns; Trough Axis Rotation

Surface to 500mb Offset; Zonal to Meridional Flow; Cut-Off Low Development; Ridge Blocking; Confirming 500mb Projections

Jet Stream Components; The Jet Stream in Winter; Cloud Signatures

"Normal" Depressions; N. Hemisphere Wind Direction; S. Hemisphere Wind Direction; Wind Strength; Sea State; Basic Decisions; Favored Tack; Running Before a Depression; Favored Jibe; Reaching Across Depressions

Frontal Structure; Warm Core; Satellite Images; Wind-Field Structure; Warning Signs; Avoidance Tactics; Christmas 1997; Cloud Signatures

June 1, 1994; The Low Deepens; Tactics; What Should Have Happened?; A Meteorologist's View; Reality--Heart of Gold; Details; 500mb View; 500mb Hindsight; Was This a Bent Back Warm Front?

Lapse Rates; Upper Atmosphere Requirements; Squall Watch; Predicting Squall Strength; Taking Advantage of the Wind; Getting Away from the Wind; Within the Squall; During the Day; Watch the Barometer; Line Squalls; Land-Generated Thunderheads; Thunder and Lightning; Microbursts; Clear-Air Microbursts; A Final Warning

Towards the Australs; An El Nino Year?; Using a Front to Start; Time to Go; Heading Offshore; In Retrospect; High-Seas Broadcast Weather

Rangiroa

Circulation About a High; Keep an Eye on Development; Westerly Tradewinds; Highs are Rarely Stable; On Top of the High; Below the High; Unfriendly Highs

Tropical Prediction Center; Tropical Synoptic Charts

Storm Genesis; Tropical Waves; Organized Circulation; Maturation; Steering Currents; Risk of Recurving; Speed of Movement; Tropical Storm Geography; Tropical Storm Forecasts; Where to Get Forecasts; Seasons; Macro Forecasting Factors; Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale; Recap; Life Cycle of a Hurricane; Diurnal Factors; Early Warning Signs; As the Storm Approaches; The Bar; Weather Fax Data; Dangerous Semicircle; Early Warning with Satellites; How Early Do You React?

Introduction; Development in General; Satellite Observations of Tropical Cyclones; Early Stages of Tropical Cyclogenisis; Curved Band (Coiling) Stage; Embedded Center Stage; Cloud-Pattern Variability; Arrested Development and Weakening; Additional Tropical Cyclone Cloud Patterns; Diurnal Effects; Cloud Patterns Associated with Tropical Cyclone Motion; A Model of Tropical Cyclone Development

Boat and Crew Factors; Sea Room; Sheltered Conditions; Finding the Storm Center; Establishing the Storm Track; Navigable Semicircle; Courses of Action; Equator Side of the Storm Track; Passaging in Hurricane Season

Communications; Costs; Discussing Your Needs; Trade-offs; Performance Factors

Nuka Hiva; Tactics; Hurricane Linda; Depression 15E; Tropical Storm Marty; Nora Matures; Approaching the Coast

San Juanico; Heading North; The Barometer Plummets; Reaching on Starboard Tack; In Hindsight; Outside Information; Transition Mechanics

Warning Signs; Speed of Movement;Tactics; Seasonal Issues

September 1, 1998; September 2; September 3; September 4; Tactics

North Pacific

September 16, 1998; September 17; September 18; September 19

Leaving Port; Making Northing; Cutting Across the High;

Advection/Sea Fog; Where Do You Find Sea Fog?; Forecasting Sea Fog; Radiation Fog; Using a Sling Psychrometer

Land Mass Compression; The Sea Breeze; Down-slope (Katabatic) Winds; Headlands; Special Acceleration Situations; Long Narrow Bays; Coastal Tactics; Holes in the Wind

South Africa; Coastal Tactics; The Gulf Stream; Thermal-Based Weather; Current; Cape Hatteras Weather; Gulf Stream Crossing Tactics

Philosophy; Atypical Weather Patterns; Pilot Charts; Sailing Directions; Equinoctial Gale Season; Tropical vs. Mid-Latitude Storms; Tropics; Against the Trades; High Latitudes; Mid-Latitude Considerations; Extreme Temperature Gradients; Hurricane Seasons; The Herd Mentality; Playing the Odds; Long-Term Cruising

Crossing Tactics; What to Expect; Using Radar

Boat Speed; Know Your Capabilities; Weather System Speed; Relative Direction; Defining a Good Window; U.S. East Coast Departure

Risk Assessment; Weather Cycles; Unusual Local Conditions; Discussing Weather Windows

Tropical Review; Extratropical Review

Priorities; Barometer; Facsimile Receivers; Wind Instruments

Range and Power; Antenna Size; Control Settings; Use with Squalls; Frontal Systems; Weather Alarm; On Watch

Satellite Direct Suppliers; Weather Routing Software

As a Teaching Tool; Practice!; Suggested Web Sites; GRIB Files; Vis5D

Books