If you’ve lived around these parts for more than a couple of years, you know just how insane the weather can be – especially in the spring when Mother Nature is coming back to life.
Around here, people like to say: “if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.”
And nobody knows that better than boaters.
A big part of the craziness is because the region often is the center of attention when cold fronts out of the north meet up with low pressure systems moving along the eastern, warmest part of the front.
Such weather systems make forecasting rains, thunderstorms and winds extremely difficult at times. Folks at the National Weather Service’s Wakefield office have said the conditions here make forecasting one of the service’s toughest jobs.
That’s why boaters – at least good, responsible ones – pay close attention. A strong weather system can blow into the area quickly and make getting back to port a lot more difficult.
Trouble is, lots of folks these days have turned to any number of social media apps and other weather reports.
Know this: those places can tinker with the forecasts all they want, but the information everything is founded on comes from the NWS.
Many boaters complain that not even the NWS forecasts are good for predicting winds. But that’s one area that’s one of the hardest to nail down.
Play around with all the the social media apps all you want and pick one you trust the most. But don’t disregard the efforts of the fine folks at the Wakefield office. Many are boaters themselves and safety is a highly regarded priority.
The service’s Wakefield office – at https://www.weather.gov/akq/ – can give you forecasts, radar, history and lots of other statistics.
And if you are a safety-minded boater, try taking some online meteorology courses so you’ll have a better understanding of what’s potentially going to happen.
Hey, you spend a lot of money and go through a huge effort to make your boating trips the best they can be. But it doesn’t hurt to know more about the potential for bad weather.
To read more of my work, go to: leetolliveroutdoors.com
