As many of you have noticed over the years I almost always begin my fishing reports with current or past weather conditions. Why you may ask? Since there are limited hours in the day, and in the week, I schedule my week and activities around the weather. It is pretty rare that you find me mowing my grass on a still clear day; every fisherman knows mowing is best left for windy overcast days. If there is indoor honey does to be done, I schedule these around rainy or smoking hot days. In short I am a fair weather fisherman. Sure on occasion I go, just to go, but rarely. Because my time is limited, I try to only fish the average to great days, especially offshore.
I read the online NOAA Weather Forecast almost every single morning, including the marine forecast, local forecast, and extended forecast. I also have a weather station mounted inside my kitchen. From home I track wind speed and direction, temperature and I watch the barometer like a hawk. Keep in mind I am not a Meteorologist, and at no time do I solely rely on my own forecasting abilities. I always listen to the latest marine weather forecast prior to leaving the dock.
The barometer is by far one of the best instruments for weather forecasting. Once you know a little bit about how to interpret barometric pressure, as well as wind speed and temperatures, you can develop your own forecast relatively easily. Provided herein are just a few rules for interpreting changes in barometric pressures.
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Single barometer readings are not generally useful for forecasting weather. Readings must be recorded at regular intervals so that their patterns can be examined over time.
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There are normal diurnal changes in barometric pressures. Pressures generally reach their maximum at 10 am and 10 p.m. and their minimum about 4 am and 4 p.m. A standard diurnal change would be as much as 0.05 inches or 0.01 inches per hour. Changes of up to 0.02 inches per hour are generally not considered to be indicative of major weather changes. Changes in barometric pressure of