Wind, waves, and the forecast — reading the outlook
Read the wind direction, wind speed, wave height and sea state, and forecast periods for any pinned location.
Open Weather from the TODAY chip on Mission Control — tap its conditions row. Each pinned location shows an OUTLOOK with multiple periods. Each period prints wind direction (e.g. NE), wind speed in the speed unit you chose (knots unless you changed it under Settings → Account → Measurement units), and a precip percentage where available.
Pin a location by tapping Add Location on the Weather board, or save a trip-pin permanently with the bookmark action. Trip pins disappear when the trip closes unless you save them.
Wave height is in the app. The top card shows the current significant wave height with a sea-state word beside it — Calm, Slight, Moderate or Rough — and each outlook period shows that period's maximum as a chip. Both come from NOAA's wave forecast for that spot; a sea under half a foot reads "under ½ ft", never 0. A place NOAA gives no wave forecast for — inland, or an office that forecasts no waves there — says "No wave forecast here" in the SEAS card instead. The SEAS card also shows the wave period and swell where NOAA forecasts them, and the latest MEASURED readings from the nearest NOAA buoy, each with its age.
Steps
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Open the Weather board
Mission Control → the TODAY chip → its conditions row. There is no Weather block on Mission Control itself. Each pinned location shows an OUTLOOK with multiple periods.
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Open a location's outlook
Tap a pinned location. Each period prints wind direction, wind speed in your chosen speed unit (knots unless you changed it), and a precip percentage where available.
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Know what's missing
Wave period and swell show in the SEAS card only where NOAA forecasts them — many inshore offices forecast wave height alone. Before an exposed passage, read the NOAA marine zone forecast too.
Related
- Weather details — wind, gusts, forecast, marine outlookRead the full weather sheet — current conditions, the outlook periods, marine alerts, and the source line that names which feed produced them.
- Pinned weather locationsPin the spots you cruise to — home port, favorite anchorages, destinations — to see weather for each at a glance.
- Trip departure planning — the next 72 hoursDeparture Windows finds the best times to leave the dock over the next 72 hours by scoring each hourly slot against four criteria.