MAFOR, an abbreviation of MArine FORecast, is a North American code used in the transmission of marine weather forecasts to compress a volume of meteorological and marine information into shorter code for convenience during radio broadcasting. The MAFOR forecast usually supplies the period of validity for the forecast, future wind speed and direction, weather, visibility and 'state of sea.'
A MAFOR code begins with a date and time group, followed by the name of the area to which the forecast applies, followed by one or more groups of five figures, which may be followed by another optional group.
YYG1G1/ where
1GDFmW11: is an identifying number required by international practice. Each code group following the name of the lake will begin with 1. G: is the code figure for the period of time covered by the forecast given in the group.
D: is the code figure for the forecast direction of the wind.
Fm: is the code figure for the forecast speed of the wind
W1: is the code figure for forecast weather.
2: identifies the group as a supplementary group. The 2 group is valid for the same period as the group that immediately precedes it. V: is the code figure for the forecast visibility.
S: is the code figure for the forecast sea state.
Height in Meters
MAFOR 0403/ - Superior 12646 14755 245H 12720 - Ontario 15820 12804
Referring to the codes above, this may be decoded as follows: MAFOR 0403/: Marine forecast valid from 03 Coordinated Universal Time of the fourth day of the current month
Lake Superior: first 6 hours of the forecast period -wind west at 28 - 33 knots, with rain. Next 12 hours of forecast period - wind northwest 34 - 40 knots, with drizzle. During the same period - visibility 1/2 - 1 nautical mile, with rough seas, wave heights of 2.5 - 4 m. Final 6 hours of the forecast period -wind northwest at 17 - 21 knots, visibility greater than 3 nautical miles
Lake Ontario: First 18 hours of forecast period -wind north 17 - 21 knots, visibility greater than 3 nautical miles, final 6 hours of forecast period - wind north at 10 knots or less, with fog reducing visibility to less than 1/2 nautical mile. [1]
Each MAFOR broadcast is followed by a brief technical synopsis of the current weather map in plain language. The synopsis gives the location of the centers of significant high and low pressure areas, and their forecast motion (direction and speed). Reference is occasionally made to marked wind shift lines, giving the anticipated time at which the wind shift will occur at key points.
The following is an example of the type of synopsis that is issued: Low Chicago moving ENE 35 High New York City moving e 15 Wind shift SW to NW Detroit early morning Kingston late evening
The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale.
The Shipping Forecast is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The forecast dates back over 150 years. There are currently four broadcasts per day at the following times: 00:48, 05:20, 12:01, and 17:54.
In meteorology, wind speed, or wind flow speed, is a fundamental atmospheric quantity caused by air moving from high to low pressure, usually due to changes in temperature. Wind speed is now commonly measured with an anemometer.
A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots. Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are expected. In the United States, a gale warning is specifically a maritime warning; the land-based equivalent in National Weather Service warning products is a wind advisory.
METAR is a format for reporting weather information. A METAR weather report is predominantly used by aircraft pilots, and by meteorologists, who use aggregated METAR information to assist in weather forecasting.
A small craft advisory is a type of wind warning issued by the National Weather Service in the United States. In Canada a similar warning is issued by Environment Canada. It is issued when winds have reached, or are expected to reach within 12 hours, a speed marginally less than gale force. A Small Craft Advisory may also be issued when sea or lake ice exists that could be hazardous to small boats.
In meteorology and aviation, terminal aerodrome forecast (TAF) is a format for reporting weather forecast information, particularly as it relates to aviation. TAFs are issued at least four times a day, every six hours, for major civil airfields: 0000, 0600, 1200 and 1800 UTC, and generally apply to a 24- or 30-hour period, and an area within approximately five statute miles (8.0 km) from the center of an airport runway complex. TAFs are issued every three hours for military airfields and some civil airfields and cover a period ranging from 3 hours to 30 hours.
A gale warning is an alert issued by national weather forecasting agencies around the world in an event that maritime locations currently or imminently experiencing winds of gale force on the Beaufort scale. Gale warnings allow mariners to take precautionary actions to ensure their safety at sea or to seek safe anchorage and ride out the storm on land. Though usually associated with deep low-pressure areas, winds strong enough to catalyze a gale warning can occur in other conditions too, including from anticyclones, or high-pressure systems, in the continental interior. The winds are not directly associated with a tropical cyclone.
GRIB is a concise data format commonly used in meteorology to store historical and forecast weather data. It is standardized by the World Meteorological Organization's Commission for Basic Systems, known under number GRIB FM 92-IX, described in WMO Manual on Codes No.306. Currently there are three versions of GRIB. Version 0 was used to a limited extent by projects such as TOGA, and is no longer in operational use. The first edition is used operationally worldwide by most meteorological centers, for Numerical Weather Prediction output (NWP). A newer generation has been introduced, known as GRIB second edition, and data is slowly changing over to this format. Some of the second-generation GRIB is used for derived products distributed in the Eumetcast of Meteosat Second Generation. Another example is the NAM model.
This article describes severe weather terminology used by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States. The NWS, a government agency operating as an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) branch of the United States Department of Commerce (DoC), defines precise meanings for nearly all of its weather terms.
SYNOP is a numerical code used for reporting weather observations made by staffed and automated weather stations. SYNOP reports are typically sent every six hours by Deutscher Wetterdienst on shortwave and low frequency using RTTY. A report consists of groups of numbers describing general weather information, such as the temperature, barometric pressure and visibility at a weather station. It can be decoded by open-source software such as seaTTY, metaf2xml or Fldigi.
A swell, also sometimes referred to as ground swell, in the context of an ocean, sea or lake, is a series of mechanical waves that propagate along the interface between water and air under the predominating influence of gravity, and thus are often referred to as surface gravity waves. These surface gravity waves have their origin as wind waves, but are the consequence of dispersion of wind waves from distant weather systems, where wind blows for a duration of time over a fetch of water, and these waves move out from the source area at speeds that are a function of wave period and length. More generally, a swell consists of wind-generated waves that are not greatly affected by the local wind at that time. Swell waves often have a relatively long wavelength, as short wavelength waves carry less energy and dissipate faster, but this varies due to the size, strength, and duration of the weather system responsible for the swell and the size of the water body, and varies from event to event, and from the same event, over time. Occasionally, swells that are longer than 700m occur as a result of the most severe storms.
SIGMET, or Significant Meteorological Information, is a severe weather advisory that contains meteorological information concerning the safety of all aircraft. Compared to AIRMETs, SIGMETs cover more severe weather.
An AIRMET, or Airmen's Meteorological Information, is a concise description of weather phenomena that are occurring or may occur (forecast) along an air route that may affect aircraft safety. Compared to SIGMETs, AIRMETs cover less severe weather: moderate turbulence and icing, sustained surface winds of 30 knots or more, or widespread restricted visibility.
Launch commit criteria are the criteria which must be met in order for the countdown and launch of a Space Shuttle or other launch vehicle to continue. These criteria relate to safety issues and the general success of the launch, as opposed to supplemental data.
An Aviation Area Forecast was a message product of the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States. It has been replaced by Graphic Area Forecasts, or GFA, in 2017.
A blizzard warning is a hazardous weather statement issued by Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) of the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States, which indicates heavy snowfall accompanied by sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph (56 km/h) or greater are forecast to occur for a minimum of three hours. A blizzard tends to reduce visibilities to 1⁄4 mile (400 m) or less.
Winds aloft, officially known as the winds and temperatures aloft forecast,, is a forecast of specific atmospheric conditions in terms of wind and temperature at certain altitudes, typically measured in feet (ft) above mean sea level (MSL). The forecast is specifically used for aviation purposes.
Swiss International Air Lines Flight 850 was an international scheduled passenger flight from Basel, Switzerland, to Hamburg, Germany. On 10 July 2002, the flight was unable to land at Fuhlsbüttel Airport due to weather. Attempts were made to divert to other airports at Berlin and Eberswalde before the crew decided to land at Werneuchen. On landing, the aircraft struck an earth bank which ripped off all three undercarriage legs, and came to rest on its belly with an engine on fire. One of the sixteen passengers suffered minor injuries. The aircraft was written off.
Marine weather forecasting is the process by which mariners and meteorological organizations attempt to forecast future weather conditions over the Earth's oceans. Mariners have had rules of thumb regarding the navigation around tropical cyclones for many years, dividing a storm into halves and sailing through the normally weaker and more navigable half of their circulation. Marine weather forecasts by various weather organizations can be traced back to the sinking of the Royal Charter in 1859 and the RMS Titanic in 1912.
[https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/general-marine-weather-information/understanding-forecasts/mafor-decode-table.html?_ga=2.168472801.1955427095.1529179108-1310113161.1529179108 MAFOR marine forecast decode table (Environment Canada)}