Having an idea of what mother nature has in store for us weather-wise is critical to safe and more enjoyable standup paddleboarding. Knowing how much wind you'll be dealing with is important for both beginners and paddlers who've taken that next step into surfing and downwinding. Let me tell you about my favorite site for weather, Windy.com.
Windy.com is the best visualization tool you can use to teach yourself the seasonal wind and weather patterns in your area. If you take a quick look at it every day you'll start to see all the common patterns the wind follows, allowing you to better plan your next paddle trip. For western Washington, you'll figure out that the winter wind is almost always from the south and from the north and west in the summer. Since I started using this site I figured out that the area from Port Angeles to Sequim, here in the middle of the north Olympic Peninsula experiences a nice windshadow in the winter to go along with the better-known rainshadow, all created by protection from the Olympic Mountain range.
The most useful function Windy.com provides is the ability to see three different weather forecast models (bottom right corner on the map). If the three models match up you can feel pretty confident in the forecast they are providing. Or you may able to predict a very unpredictable day if they each say something different. This is essential to know how to plan for your time on the water.
Once you dig into the menus you'll find an unbelievably robust weather prediction tool with everything from wave predictions to sea temperatures. Windy.com will make you a better, more informed and safer paddler and I can't recommend this site enough.
The most useful function Windy.com provides is the ability to see three different weather forecast models (bottom right corner on the map). If the three models match up you can feel pretty confident in the forecast they are providing. Or you may able to predict a very unpredictable day if they each say something different. This is essential to know how to plan for your time on the water.
Once you dig into the menus you'll find an unbelievably robust weather prediction tool with everything from wave predictions to sea temperatures. Windy.com will make you a better, more informed and safer paddler and I can't recommend this site enough.