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| Why does the news give us Lake Superior and Lake Michigan waves, but they do not give us all Lake Winnebago! I think it is time for us all to start and write there TV stations, and say, HEY, we would like to see some wind reports from Bago! Am I right or no? |
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Member
Posts: 2393
Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | I'd guess they get their info from the weather buoys or from NOAA. You have a good idea but I believe your approach is off target. It's NOAA that you should go after. You should have a good case since the federal government considers bago a part of the Great Lake system and federal waters. |
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Member
Posts: 874
Location: Neenah, WI | Along with that, I would like the local weather people to go back to displaying the isobars on the weather map. That helps a lot to determine the winds. |
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Posts: 2680
Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay. | Here is an E-mail that one of my board members sent to the NOAA to ask why our inner Bay forecasts are not correct most of the time and that officials answer. Seem is all has a lot to do with "Show me the Money" as in most everything these days.
Jim Hert wrote:
Hi Wayne,
I just wanted to comment on the Near Shore Marine Forecast I hear for the Inner Saginaw Bay.
I have noticed that the wave forecast seems to only be dependent on the wind knots per mile.
For example with wind 5 to 10 knots the waves forecast are almost always the same, say 1-2 feet.
Obviously though the wind direction has a major impact on the size of the waves. If the wind is out of the SW to the NW the
waves could be 1 foot or less with wind speed of 5 to 10 knots. If the wind is out of the NE to the E, coming all the way across Lake Huron,
the waves could be 3 to 5 feet! A big difference. We have witnessed this many times. We drive from Hale MI to Au Gres and if the forecast
is for 1 foot or less and we find 5 footers when we get there, it is a bit of an inconvience. Now I understand that this is Mother Nature and no
forecast is always going to be perfect, but I think the system could use some upgrades and improvements. I'm not the only one with this opinion,
most all of the fishermen I know are complaining about how these forecast are not accurate nor reliable and they are constantly looking for other sources of
information.
Thanks,
Jim Hert
Grand Ledge, MI
Dear Mr. Hert...
Thanks for your comments on wave height forecasts for Saginaw Bay. That area has been a frequent trouble spot for us... and we continue to make tweaks to our wind/wave models and product formatters to account for higher waves in those conditions. We made an additional adjustment today, so we'll see if that helps. The model accounts for fetch across Lake Huron quite well, but doesn't handle as well the predominant circulation out of the Bay that results in more wave steepness with an east or northeast wind. At some point, we hope to actually have real-time wave measurements on the Bay to help us calibrate the wind/wave relationship there (depends on funding and priorities, as usual). Until then, we would appreciate additional feedback you might be able to give us as we move into the fall season. When you report to us, keep in mind that we are calibrating for "significant waves" (average of the highest 1/3 of the wave spectra) vs. maximum waves. |
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Member
Posts: 591
Location: in the boat off the east shore somewhere | our weather people are a joke... i always check the radar live on line before i take off... like last night ,,, drastic drop in temperatures comming monday,,, down to 59 ,, you know it isnt going to be 59 ,, prob the low 60s , and very nice... but drastic drop in temp? ya ok its october,, 60s i like it... and wind,, for baggo is always a trick,, just be prepared to drive.. i give up on the local weather,, just put the old radar of our part of the country,,, turn on the satatlite map of the whole country,,, and point out whats down the road a day or so... all the graphics and crap,,, it funny how in green bay the are always searching for something to talk about ... weather is good here for the next few days they will pull the map out and talk about the weather 200 miles north west ,, and the rain there tracking is heading north east,,, a 30 sec pop on it fine but ten min on something that doesnt have anything or will not have anything to do us ,,, if the weather is stable and and the extended forcast looks good why have that long of coverage for weather,,, put some packer stuff on or something.. onother thing that urks me ,, over and over they do an extended forcast ,,, its tuesday,,, and the following tuesday they are expecting rain all day nice all weekend,, then by wed the rain is the second half of monday,,, by thursday its monday morning rain nice all weekend , ad by friday the rain is set for sunday afternoon,,, then friday night ten o clock , the rain is all day sunday, mabe even a chance saturday afternoon... happens all the time... what gives? lol |
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Posts: 1314
Location: Menasha, WI | Sunshine - 10/6/2007 5:21 AM You should have a good case since the federal government considers bago a part of the Great Lake system and federal waters. If only that were so. While Bago is federal water it is not considered part of the Great Lakes. The exclusion makes it impossible for researchers to draw from the funds dedicated to Great Lakes and makes coordination between Bago researchers and Great Lakes research difficult at best. Ironically, Lake Champlain (which isn't even connected to the Great Lakes) is considered to be part of the Great Lakes when it comes to funding. It really doesn't make any sense when the Bago watershed drains 1/5th of the state of WI and dumps so much water into Green Bay. |
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Posts: 921
Location: Manitowoc, WI | Just remember, the National Weather Service measures wave height by using the average of the mean wave height. This means that the average of the top third of the waves are measured then forcasted. I believe I got that right! Heard it from NWS personnel via telephone. So, when they predict waves 1 to 2 feet, the actual wave height from top of the crest to the bottom of the swell could be anywhere from 2 to 4 feet. Some people in smaller craft should be aware of this. |
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