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Meteorology · Ship Routing · Observation
Ship Routing

Ship Routing

The marine and shipping lane. OPC surface analyses for both ocean basins, the SF Bay marine forecast for both zones, live tide and current state at the Gate, four key Pacific and Atlantic buoys with pressure trends, and industry news from gCaptain.

Industry News

gCaptain

Maritime news · daily

The maritime industry's daily news desk — cargo, shipping, port operations, casualties, regulation, routing.

Daily Launch gCaptain →
Marine & Maritime
OPC Surface Analysis · North Pacific
OPC North Pacific surface analysis
OPC Surface Analysis · North Atlantic
OPC North Atlantic surface analysis
Global Tropical Activity
ATL Atlantic — EPAC E. Pacific — WPAC W. Pacific — IO Indian Ocean & S. Hem. —
NHC · Atlantic · 2-day & 5-day Outlook
2-day NHC Atlantic 2-day tropical weather outlook
5-day NHC Atlantic 5-day tropical weather outlook
NHC · E. Pacific · 2-day & 5-day Outlook
2-day NHC E. Pacific 2-day tropical weather outlook
5-day NHC E. Pacific 5-day tropical weather outlook
CPHC · Central Pacific · 2-day & 5-day Outlook
2-day CPHC Central Pacific 2-day tropical weather outlook
5-day CPHC Central Pacific 5-day tropical weather outlook
JTWC · Western Pacific
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Latest advisory
JTWC · Indian Ocean & S. Hemisphere
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Latest advisory
Long-Range Tropics · MJO & Beyond Five Days

BOM MJO Phase Diagram

Wheeler-Hendon RMM

BOM's MJO phase diagram — the operational reference for tropical convection 2–4 weeks out, by RMM1/RMM2.

Daily Launch viewer →

CPC Global Tropics Hazards

NOAA CPC · Week 1-2

CPC's Week 1 + Week 2 global tropics hazards outlook — cyclone formation, precip, and convective coverage.

Weekly Launch viewer →
Beyond NHC's 5-day outlook the ocean basins still have routing-relevant signals. The MJO phase tells you which basin is conducive to tropical cyclone formation 2-4 weeks ahead; the CPC week 1-2 outlook quantifies that probabilistically.
Marine Forecast · SF Bay
NWS San Francisco Bay Area · Coastal Waters Forecast
North Bay · San Pablo · Suisun · Delta
PZZ530
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San Francisco Bay South of the Bay Bridge
PZZ531
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Coastal Waters Forecast issued by NWS San Francisco Bay Area (KMTR), refreshed several times daily. Two zones: PZZ530 covers the north end of the bay, San Pablo, Suisun, and the West Delta; PZZ531 covers the bay south of the Bay Bridge. Showing the next two forecast periods per zone — click through for the full extended outlook and any active small-craft or gale advisories.
Fog & Visibility

Windy · Fog & Low Cloud

Global · Multi-model

Windy's interactive global fog overlay drawing from ECMWF and GFS low-cloud and visibility fields.

Continuous · global Launch viewer →

AWC Graphical Forecasts

NWS AWC · GFA

AWC's Graphical Forecast for Aviation — current Cig/Vis, ceiling forecasts, IFR conditions, and METAR plots.

Hourly Launch GFA →
Marine fog forms when warm moist air drifts over cooler water (advection fog) or when the boundary layer cools radiatively overnight. AWC's products show real-time observed visibility at every reporting station; pair with the OPC analysis above to see where the synoptic pattern is producing it.
Tides · San Francisco Bay
Pier 22½ · Station 9414290 · NOAA CO-OPS
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current
Next high
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Next low
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Tide heights relative to MLLW (Mean Lower Low Water). San Francisco Bay tides are mixed semidiurnal — two unequal highs and two unequal lows per lunar day. Predictions from NOAA harmonic constants; observations from the Pier 22½ acoustic gauge.
Tidal Currents · Golden Gate
SFB1202 · 0.88 NM NE of Golden Gate Bridge · NOAA CO-OPS
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Next slack
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Peak flood today
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Peak ebb today
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Tidal currents at the Golden Gate run roughly twice daily, mirroring the bay's tide cycle. Flood (incoming, NE 052°) and ebb (outgoing, SW 238°) can exceed 5 knots on spring tides — among the strongest tidal currents on the US West Coast. Slack water windows are short. Predictions from NOAA harmonic constants for station SFB1202 at 21 ft depth.
NDBC Buoys · Key Ocean Stations
46042 N. Pacific · Local
Monterey Bay
27 NM W of Monterey, CA · 36.8°N 122.4°W
Water temp · 5-day 5-day water temperature trend at NDBC buoy 46042
Pressure · 5-day 5-day atmospheric pressure trend at NDBC buoy 46042
View station →
46006 N. Pacific · Trans-Pac routes
SE Papa
600 NM W of Eureka, CA · 40.8°N 137.5°W
Wave height · 5-day 5-day wave height trend at NDBC buoy 46006
Pressure · 5-day 5-day atmospheric pressure trend at NDBC buoy 46006
View station →
44011 N. Atlantic · Shipping lanes
Georges Bank
170 NM E of Hyannis, MA · 41.1°N 66.6°W
Water temp · 5-day 5-day water temperature trend at NDBC buoy 44011
Pressure · 5-day 5-day atmospheric pressure trend at NDBC buoy 44011
View station →
51101 N. Pacific · Hawaiian approach
NW Hawaii
190 NM NW of Kauai · 24.3°N 162.1°W
Water temp · 5-day 5-day water temperature trend at NDBC buoy 51101
Pressure · 5-day 5-day atmospheric pressure trend at NDBC buoy 51101
View station →
5-day water temperature and atmospheric pressure per buoy. Sea temp drives marine layer depth and storm intensification potential; falling pressure = approaching low, rising = clearing. Click any station to open the full NDBC page with wind, waves, period, salinity, and longer history.
Satellite Winds · Open-Ocean Verification

Windy · Global Wind

NWP + ASCAT

Windy's interactive global wind overlay — ECMWF and GFS forecasts with ASCAT scatterometer observations integrated.

Continuous · global Launch viewer →

KNMI Scatterometer Tools

EUMETSAT · ASCAT-A/B/C

KNMI's scatterometer tools — ASCAT, ScatSat-1, and HY-2B wind vectors with quality flags, often faster than NOAA's.

Continuous Launch viewer →
NWP wind forecasts (GFS, ECMWF) are calibrated against in-situ observations. Where buoys don't reach — mid-Pacific, North Atlantic outside shipping lanes, Southern Ocean — scatterometer winds are the verification truth. When ASCAT and the model disagree, ASCAT usually wins.
Wave & Swell Forecasts

OPC Pacific Marine Suite

NOAA OPC

OPC's full North Pacific product set — 24/48/72/96-hour wave height, period, direction, and surface analysis.

4× daily Launch viewer →

OPC Atlantic Marine Suite

NOAA OPC

North Atlantic equivalent — 24/48/72/96-hour wave, swell, and surface forecast charts for the full basin.

4× daily Launch viewer →

Windy · Global Waves

WW3 + ECMWF

Windy's interactive global wave-overlay viewer, drawing from WaveWatch III and ECMWF wave model data.

4× daily · global Launch viewer →

ECMWF Open Charts

European Centre

ECMWF's open-charts portal — significant wave height, direction, peak period paired with deterministic atmospheric.

2× daily Launch viewer →
Wave forecast charts complement the OPC analyses above with forecasts out to 96 hours (OPC) and 7-10 days (ECMWF, WW3). Hand-analyzed surface charts on the Marine band; gridded wave fields here.
Ice & Icebergs

National Ice Center · Arctic

NIC daily

US National Ice Center daily Arctic ice analysis — concentration, age, thickness, and movement.

Daily Launch viewer →

International Ice Patrol

USCG · N. Atlantic

USCG iceberg surveillance for the North Atlantic — Northern Limit of Icebergs (NLIB) chart, year-round.

Daily · iceberg season Launch viewer →

National Ice Center · Antarctic

NIC daily

Southern Hemisphere ice analysis — concentration, age, and movement around the Antarctic coast.

Daily Launch viewer →

NSIDC Sea Ice Tools

U. Colorado

NSIDC interactive sea-ice tools — charting, comparison, and trend visualization back to 1979.

Daily · archive Launch viewer →
NIC and IIP are the operational sources Tony's industry uses for ice avoidance. NSIDC is the climatological reference — useful for "is this an unusual ice year" context, not for picking tomorrow's track.