What Hecksher's wind meters REALLY mean...

(In part one of his guide on reading the tea leaves of Joe's Beach at Heckscher, Mike Burns shared his experience and wisdom in forecasting when Heckscher will be windy. Here in part two Mike deciphers the iWindsurf wind meters and translates their readings into news you can use.)

There are 2 meters that are useful for reading the wind at Heckscher.  The Great South Bay meter and the Bluepoint Meter.  The location of the Great South Bay meter is about 15 miles west of Heckscher at Tanner Park.  The Bluepoint meter is very close but is blocked from the S and SW a bit, so I'll list the wind directions that we would sail Heckscher and what to expect the wind to be on the water based on the readings from the meters.

 
From S and SW:  The Great South Bay meter can be pretty accurate.  The only problem is that the wind mixes better when it's having trouble mixing to the west so sometimes the GSB meter is a little high.   For the most part it's very accurate for S and SW and is a very good indicator of the real wind on the water.  The Bluepoint meter is blocked a bit form the S and SW, so go by the gusts for the average wind reading.

Easterly readings from the Great South Bay meter are incredibly low.  You have to go by the gusts and then even add a few knots depending on wind strength.  The more wind, the more you need to add onto the gusts.  The Bluepoint meter seems to be much more accurate to read for an Easterly at Heckscher.  The launch is more exposed to the wind than where the meter is located so this meter might read a little low, but is a better indicator of the real wind than the Great South Bay Meter.

A westerly is what it is on the Great South Bay Meter.  The Bluepoint Meter hasn't been around long enough for me to really say how accurate it is from a due west reading.

Example of real wind and meter readings:

Meter Readings from SW:          Expected real on water SW wind:
GSB:   SW ave 18, gusts 22.       SW 18, gusts to 22
BP:     SW ave 18, gusts to 22      SW 22 with higher gusts.

Meter readings from the E:       Expected real on water E wind:
GSB: E ave 10, gusts to 17     18 to 20 with higher gusts
GSB: E ave 17, gusts to 25      about 30 with higher gusts
BP:  E ave 17, gusts to 25       about 19 with gusts to 25

Meter reading from W:             Expected real on water W wind:
GSB: W ave 20, gusts to 25     20 gusts to 25
BP:  meter is too new, not enough testing

If you missed part one (in which Mike tells you how to forecast the good days at Hecksher) here's a link.

(Image:  iWindsurf's map for Long Island waters, with the Hecksher meters pointed out.)

Comments

[f messina]

Great Topic. Well done. No Better Heckscher sailor than Mike

[ctwindsurf]

As close to God as one can get......the weatherman. Thanks Mike for the insight. I've been to new venues and asked the locals how or why the wind/wave works at their locale only to receive blank stares(as if I were standing on my head speaking in foreign tongues) in return.

[f Messina]

Michael A.,
This was a good read. Thanks for posting it up on the yahoo group again.
Mike B.,
Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

I had a great 6.0 session at Heckscher last night. I know it blew harder earlier in the day; and that's been happening a lot this season 2010.

In past years, once the thermal started, you could be sure that the wind would just continue to get stronger until sunset.

This spring we are seeing an awful lot of Hechscher thermals die out by 5PM. It's been a frustrating last two weeks of May , and June, for us late shift guys.

Any theories as to why? Are you guys getting the same out east?

Thanks,

Frank

[Michael]

Frank, I haven't been out enough to provide consistent reports on East End thermals. I'm hoping to correct that at Napeague on Saturday.

[scott k.]

5-10 5-10 5-10 too bad u dont have a jet ski!!!

[Michael]

I hate jet skis. It is too bad that I don't have one though. If I had one I could sell it to raise money to buy something GOOD!

Of course it's not the jetskis that are the problem. It's the people who usually ride them. Scott, what are you doing on a jet ski?

[scott k.]

mike havent u heard of tow ins?

[Michael]

Feel free to tow me in, to rescue me, to give me all the benefits of having a friend who jetskis in an emergency.

But aside from that I intend to make merciless fun of them.

Hypocrisy rules!

[scott k.]

mike check out the cover of this months smithsonion mag!