Getting hold of GRIB files
Ultimately, GRIB files are created by a wide variety of bodies throughout the world, including governments and research centres. The information is provided essentially in the form of code, so you do need some sort of programme with which to open the file and turn the code into the graphical GRIB format.
Many of these are publicly available for free, but others are not or require some form of payment. The UK’S own GRIB files, for example, cannot be accessed for free. Given that all the different models model the weather globally then this is of little concern. Although there are forecasting differences between them it is almost impossible to say that any one model provides greater accuracy than any other specific model.
There are many options for sailors to use and for many, which particular option they plump for, will likely be a matter of personal preference. However, given GRIB data is largely provided for free, there are few situations where it makes sense to pay per download.
PREDICT WIND
Predict Wind will likely be familiar to most sailors for their forecasting software. Should you wish to go further afield, however, you can download Predict Wind
Offshore and add GRIB files. The application works well and seamlessly with most satellite and SSB comms tools, by simply downloadinng the data file, which can be opened in the application.
Predict Wind’s weather app is very user-friendly and the same is true of the Offshore app. It’s easy and straight forward to download GRIB files and store them for later use.
One key drawback, however, is that it only allows access to the GFS and ECMWF files. These are, admittedly, two of the most popular but it would be nice if there were a wider range of options out there. www.predictwind.com
XYGRIB
XYGRIB is an open source piece of software, which you download to your computer, and provides a simple-tounderstand way of downloading GRIB information. It’s a great viewer for highresolution data and includes a number of useful features, such as the ability to change the way in which the maps are displayed and your own bespoke colouring for varying wind strengths etc.
XYGRIB provides access to a wide range of weather models including GFS, GEM, NAVGEM, ARPEGE, and ICON. www.opengribs.org