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Most organisations that publish weather reports and forecasts relating to Australia rely on information provided by two Commonwealth Government agencies: The Bureau of Meteorology ( see Government Departments and Agencies), and Airservices Australia ( see Government Departments and Agencies). One such private organisation is The Weather Company whose extensive weather reports and forecasts based on official Government information are published on theWeatherCo's own Website as well as being carried by many media outlets including Australian cable TV's The Weather Channel. Here are some of the sites having data relevant to Coffs Harbour.
The most signifcant weather information sought by small boats venturing off the New South Wales coast is the Coastal Waters Forecast issued several times daily by the Bureau of Meteorology. This forecast is published by virtually all electronic media, and is broadcast at frequent intervals over marine radio. The Bureau also has a handy explanation of the terms used.
Major World airports issue coded weather status reports every 30 minutes and warnings as and when they arise, and many lesser airports (including Coffs Harbour) issue reports every hour. Aviation weather reports issued by Australian airports are available only on a subscription basis. Airservices Australia's Website has a report for Coffs Harbour which contains only the raw, undecoded information (in METAR format) together with a local forecast (also in METAR format) as it is issued from the Airport.
The Bureau of Meteorology issues periodical weather observations for various areas of the State on a centre-by-centre basis. The latest report for North-East New South Wales includes current observation data for Coffs Harbour.
In similar manner to its Coastal Weather Forecast the Bureau of Meteorology also publishes the General Weather Forecast which is a "no frills" service covering the whole State on a regional basis and containing a four-day outlook. Many third-party Websites include weather information derived from the General Weather Forecast, and sometimes from other Bureau forecasts. Some of these sites, in order of usefulness, follows.
The Bureau of Meteorology publishes, on an ad hoc basis, special weather forecasts to cover particular events, including some ocean yacht races. These special forecasts are listed in the Bureau's catalogue of Marine Weather & Oceanography Services.
Also on an ad hoc basis, the Marine Division of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) publishes Ocean Conditions for Yacht Races which are sea surface temperature charts (plus commentary) derived from data collected by US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites. These reports are useful for precise location of northbound and southbound currents and eddies, particularly near the edge of the continental shelf.
Ocean yacht races of particular interest to Coffs Harbour (and which may, or may not, be the subject of a special weather forecast by the Bureau or of a sea surface temperature report by CSIRO) include:
These are the Weather Maps seen in the Weather Reports in TV news bulletins and on the Weather Page of newspapers.
There are many satellite weather images available on the Internet, including the latest MetSat GMS Weather Picture from James Cook University using images received from the GMS Satellite operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Note: The times shown are Greenwich Mean Time (UTC).
For errors, omissions and broken links, or to make comments and suggestions, please contact webmaster(at)thorsby(dot)com(dot)au.
This page was last updated on Monday, 15 August 2005, at 20:28:00 Eastern Standard Time
