Weather forecasts onboard

Meltemi, Greek chart terms, Lights and shapes, Forecast rain via clouds, Fishing hazards, Anchoring & Mediterranean mooring

Online Navionics Navigation chart, Open Sea Map (OSM), C-Map

A Greek bulletin – both in Greek and English – is divided into 4 parts:

1. warnings: strong wind and thunderstorm warnings (GALE = 8 and 9 bft • STORM = 10 bft or higher)
2. synopsis for the pressure systems affecting the area and their evolution.
3. forecast for every sub-area containing Wind Direction and Force (in BEAUFORT scale), Sea (in DOUGLAS scale descriptive terms), Visibility (descriptive terms and when significantly reduced), Weather (when significant).
   Time terms:
   • very soon: expected the first 6 hours of forecast
   • soon: expected the next 6 hours of forecast
   • later: expected the last 12 hours of forecast
   Visibility:
   • very poor: less than 0.5 nautical miles
   • poor: 0.5 to less than 2 nautical miles
   • moderate: 2 to 5 nautical miles
   • good: greater than 5 nautical miles (*not mandatory)
4. outlook for a further 12 hours

See all Olympia Radio GMDSS Broadcasts RF VHF NAVTEX… [PDF]

Example Greek bulletin

Part 1
Melita continuing to 17/22 UTC northwest 7 or 8
Sidra over north continuing to 17/22 UTC west northwest 7 or 8

Part 2
General synopsis 17-04-24/03 UTC
Near stationary low with centre 997 Central Adriatic filling slowly and is expected 1001 by 17/21.00 UTC. Low with centre 998 by coasts of Libya is moving eastwards northeast and filling. High pressures 1012 over Taurus and Crusade

Part 3
Forecast up to 18 april 10 UTC

North Adriatic
north northwest 4 or 5 soon 3 or 4. Slight over south up to moderate

Central Adriatic
north northwest 5 over south part west northwest soon 4 or 5 over north 3 or 4. Chance of thunderstorm

South Adriatic
north northwest 5 very soon 4 or 5. Moderate. Thunderstorm

Boot
west northwest 5 or 6. Up to moderate. Chance of thunderstorm over north

Melita
northwest 7 or 8 decreasing later. Up to rough. Locally poor

Gabes
northwest 4 or 5 over east 5 or 6 very soon over west part northeast soon over east part northwest 4 or 5 and over west part east 3 or 4. moderate over east up to rough

Sidra
west northwest 5 or 6 over north 7 or 8. Moderate over north up to rough. Locally poor

North Ionio
west southwest 4 or 5 very soon from the north west northwest soon 5 or 6. Slight over west up to moderate. Thunderstorm

South Ionio
west northwest 4 or 5 very soon south of 36.00 5 or 6. Slight over south moderate. Chance of thunderstorm over north

Patraikos
west southwest 3 or 4. Up to slight. Thunderstorm

Korinthiakos
variable 3 or 4 very soon west northwest soon 4 or 5. Up to slight

Kithira Sea
west northwest 4 or 5 very soon west 5 or 6 soon 6. Up to moderate

Southwest Kritiko
west northwest 6 or 7. Moderate or rough

Southeast Kritiko Ierapetra
south southeast 5 or 6 over west part west southwest very soon over west 6 or 7 soon west 6. Slight over west up to moderate

Taurus
east northeast 3 up to 5 over west east southeast 4 or 5. Up to slight

Delta
east southeast 4 or 5 soon over west west northwest. Slight

Crusade
east 3 or 4 soon southeast 3 up to 5. Smooth or slight

Kastellorizo Sea
east southeast 5 or 6 and north of 36.00 6 or 7 soon south 4 or 5 and north of 36.00 east southeast 5 or 6. Up to moderate

Rodos Sea
southeast 6 or 7 soon south 5 or 6. Moderate

Karpathio
southeast 6 or 7 soon south southeast 5 or 6. Moderate

West Kritiko
west southwest 4 or 5 very soon west soon 6 or 7. Up to moderate

East Kritiko
south southeast 5 or 6 very soon south southwest soon 6 or 7. Up to moderate

Southwest Aegean
north northeast 4 soon west southwest 4 or 5 and south of 37.00 5 or 6. Slight

Southeast Aegean Ikario
southeast 6 or 7 soon east of 26.00 5 or 6 and west of 26.00 west southwest 5 or 6. Moderate

Samos Sea
southeast 6 or 7 soon 5 or 6. Moderate

Saronikos
east southeast 3 or 4 soon west northwest 4 or 5. Slight

South Evvoikos
southeast 3 or 4 soon west southwest. Slight

Kafireas Strait
south southeast 4 or 5 soon southwest. Up to moderate

Central Aegean
south southeast 5 or 6 soon south southwest 4 or 5. Moderate

Northwest Aegean
south southeast 4 or 5 soon west southwest. Slight over east moderate

Northeast Aegean
south 5 or 6 later west southwest 4 or 5. Moderate

Thrakiko
south southwest 5 or 6 later west southwest 3 up to 5. Moderate

Thermaikos
south southeast 4 or 5 soon west northwest 4. Slight. Chance of thunderstorm

Marmara
variable 3 or 4. Slight

West Black Sea
southwest 5 or 6 over east anticyclonic 3 up to 5 soon south southeast 4 or 5. Slight over west moderate. Chance of thunderstorm over west

East Black Sea
southeast 4 or 5 over west part northwest soon east 3 up to 5. slight

Part 4
Outlook for the next 12 hours
gale force winds not expected

Veering & backing winds

When a wind veers it changes direction in a clockwise direction. In other words, a westerly wind would become a north westerly wind.
A backing wind would change from a northerly wind to a north westerly wind.
A veering wind ↻ is generally associated with warm air advection. A backing wind ↺ is associated with cold air advection.