Modern Marine Weather: From Time-Honored Traditional Knowledge to the Latest Technology

A newly updated, comprehensive text on how to take weather into account for the planning and navigation of voyages, local or global, using the latest technologies as well as the time-honored skills of maritime tradition, so that your time on the water remains as safe and efficient as possible. Covers practical applications of GRIB files, ASCAT wind measurements, and other modern resources.

Preface to the 2025 Fourth Edition

Tides and tidal currents have actually undergone two revolutions in this period. In 2020, NOAA discontinued annual tables completely, guiding us now to use their online resources to create tables of our own. But not long after that, the new Operational Forecast System model now provides digital tides and tidal currents for every point on a US chart. And the charts themselves are all new.  We review new functions of existing nav and weather apps, plus anticipated changes on the horizon, including the forthcoming new S-100 ENC standard that will include much GIS data and weather overlays.

Beyond the tidal currents, the sections on ocean currents have also been notably updated, including the addition of new resources. The use of regional models is much expanded, so readers can start using model forecasting for local sailing.

Another revolution has taken place in communications with the affordable and now common use of satellite internet, such as StarLink, and new cell phones with planned satellite data connectivity in coastal waters. This opens up all new access to weather data underway, which we cover in this new edition.

We have also developed a new way to make the all important ASCAT wind measurements more readily usable for route planning and model evaluation. This is supplemented with a much extended discussion of model forecasts, including planned changes this year or next. We also introduce new, free or inexpensive, accurate barometers so that there is now no reason that every vessel does not have precise, accurate pressure readings at all times. The NOAA system of zone forecasts has always been complex, and still is, but now there are a couple NWS sites we can refer to that were not available earlier, and with that we could shorten our previous presentation. The advent of better communications makes this more practical. We have added new sections on probability forecasting, as approached from the OPC, NHC, and the NWS modeling center, plus we discuss new GIS products that can be viewed in Google Earth as well as some popular nav apps as well.

Overall we have updated text references and provided new examples whenever the previous were outdated. Since several apps can load all of the NDBC buoy locations with live data, we have expanded the discussion of ship and buoy data, including a unique list of buoys that have live current data.

The NHC (and the US Navy) have done away with the traditional Mariners 1-2-3 Rule for safe navigation in the vicinity of tropical cyclones, which is now replaced by the 34-kt wind Rule. We explain this change and give several examples of the value of the 34-kt Rule. For those who want to review what they have learned in the book, there is a companion Weather Workbook available that offers an extensive set of practical questions with full answers and related resources, organized according to the book chapters. It offers a way to structure study and bring out relationships and practical points that might have been overlooked. We did not shy away from including important internet links, well aware that they are subject to change. Updates as needed will be posted online. The links should be active in the ebook editions.

Used by many of the top sailing schools and professional academies.
A USCG recommended text for deck license exam preparation.
Cited by the Ocean Prediction Center as a reference publication

David Burch is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation in London as well as a Fellow of the Institute of Navigation in Washington, DC, from which he received the Superior Achievement Award for outstanding performance as a practicing navigator. He has logged more than 70,000 miles at sea, including twelve transoceanic yacht races, with several first place victories and a passage record for boats under 36 feet that lasted 16 years. He also navigated the only American entry in the storm-ridden 1993 Sydney to Hobart Race. On the academic side, he is a former Fulbright Scholar with a PhD in physics. As Founding Director of Starpath School of Navigation in Seattle he has designed courses and taken part in the teaching of marine weather and navigation for more than 30 years. He continues to work on the development of online training materials, which are presented at starpath.com. Articles on special topics in navigation and weather appear at starpath.com/articles.