Weather - Focused on Sites Useful for Caribbean Weather
Weather Forecasts and Observations
National Hurricane Center - Marine Forecasts & Analyses - A very good collection of data. Well down on the page you can find the Weather FAX charts for the Caribbean. They give current conditions and the forecast for 24, 48, 72 hours in the future. Also just above the Weather FAX charts is a link to the chart of the current conditions for the Atlantic basin.
NOAA Radio Fax Charts from Marshfield, Massachusetts (NMF)- North Atlantic weather FAX Charts. Useful as often the activities in the North Atlantic affect those in the Caribbean.
NOAA National Data Buoy Center - Has become easier to use when they added the selection for the Caribbean Sea on the right hand panel. Unfortunately not too many buoys in the Caribbean.
NWS Marine Offshore Marine Forecasts by Zone - The Official NOAA forecasts for the Caribbean. Often the same for many areas. The general situation information is useful. It is also useful to compare to GRIBs.
NWS High Seas Marine Forecasts - Official NOAA forecasts for the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific.
NWC Ocean Prediction Center - Synoptic Charts of the North Atlantic. Stops short of the Caribbean, but useful to understand the driving factors affecting the weather further south.
Model Guidance from the NWS - Provides longer term forecasts from computer models. You need to select the region, model, and then select the information on the next page. We typically use WNATL and GFS. Then 10m_WND_Precip which provides winds at 10 meters and precipitation. Those forecasts can go out as far as 16 days.
Weather Charts for North America, the Atlantic and Europe - A useful compendium of hard to find weather charts.
Weather Radar
Meteo France - Weather Radar - Provides a weather radar loop covering the eastern Caribbean from Antigua to Grenada. A link also provides radar for Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
Trinidad Weather Radar - Provides a variety of weather radar products. The page has been down for around 18 months (9/2021) not sure when or if it will be up again.
Barbados Weather Radar - Provides weather radar out to about 400km. Make sure the time matches as it is occasionally down. Useful from Trinidad to Guadeloupe. Seems to be back up again - (July 2018)
GRIB Data
Most popular GRIB viewers display data from the GFS (Global Forecast System) model. In theory, they should all yield the same information, however due to averaging and other factors there is often differences.
zyGrib - Now has been replaced by XYgrip. Probably the best GRIB file viewer and down-loader (in my opinion). Requires the user to download an application.
Passage Weather - The most widely used of the GRIB viewers. Good coverage for the Caribbean. However, you must use their regions. Does not give as much data as yzGrib.
BuoyWeather - A popular application that allows you to select or place a virtual buoy at any place and gather the weather for the location. Good graphics.
Windytv - A new web GRIB viewer. Displays streamlines and all the rest of the usual GRIB data. Incorporates both the Euro and NOAA models. Very nice presentation.
Hurricanes
National Hurricane Center - Tropical Prediction Center - The major source for Hurricane information. Track information is limited to the official track.
Weather Underground Tropical Weather - Better track information than NOAA. Daily discussions are useful. Often spots trouble much before NOAA.
Hurricanes, Typhoons and Tropical Cyclones Page by the Naval Research Laboratory - A useful Navy site. Good track graphics.
Tropical Tidbits - A excellent collection of data on current storms all in one place.
Mike's Weather Page - A very extensive collection of data from across the web.
Windy - Not strictly a tropical storm model, but very useful in assessing the effects of weather patterns on your location.
Weather Sites for the Trinidad Morning Report
NHC Marine Forecasts & Analyses - A excellent source for surface weather maps for the tropics. Scroll down the page to the section titled "Graphical Products". The low resolution map and the surface forecasts are used.
Weather Forecast Piarco, Trinidad And Tobago | Piarco Weather | Wunderground - Weather Underground Site for Trinidad
Forecast | Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Services - The official Trinidad and Tobago met office.
Observation | Radar for Trinidad and Tobago - The official radar site, select the 150 km scan range. (Site Down)
National Hurricane Center - Tropical Prediction Center - The major source for Hurricane information. Track information is limited to the official track.
Weather - Other Links
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - A good compendium of weather links
Photography
Digital Camera Reviews - The best place to get information on a new camera or to read biogs on your existing equipment.
B&H Photo Video | Digital Cameras, Camcorders - A great source for all types of Photographic Equipment. Out of NY. They also have a number of useful videos on all subjects of interest to photographers.
Birds and Bird Watching Sites
eBird: - An excellent source to find what birds are at a particular location.
The Asa Wright Nature Center - One of the primier bird watching sites in the world. Located in the tropical rainforest in Trinidad.
Cornell Lab: Neotropical Birds - Great site to help identify a bird you have seen.
Yerette - Home of the Hummingbird - A wonderful location to view most of the 18 species of Hummingbirds found in Trinidad.
Sailing
Noonsite: The global site for cruising sailors - Most often viewed for its security related posts, but contains all sorts of useful Cruising Information
Sailing Blogs
Sailing Vessel Wild Matilda | Thoughts and Travels - The blog of the Web Master
Wildcat Sailor Girl - A blog of the vessel Honey Rider
The Environment
Many of these sites have a political slant. I make no apology for their inclusion.
TreeHugger - An excellent site for Green News.
Grist - Green Political News
All Creatures Great And Small - A mix of good pictures.
Science, Math and Engineering
Science Daily - A great source for science news. Often appears here a day or two before the major news media pick it up.
Other Interesting Places
UltraFacts - A Tumblr site of facts that make you go Hmmmm.
