Basic Marine Weather For Paddlers

Basic Marine Weather For Paddlers

Paddling requires many skills. Regardless of where your adventures take you, no aspect is more important than an understanding of marine weather forecasting. By attending the Marine Weather Forecasting For Paddlers Seminar you will gain an understanding of basic weather principles and learn how to use a wide variety of forecasting resources. These skills will improve your trip planning and reduce the likelihood that you will be exposed to uncomfortable or hazardous weather conditions. Attendees will also learn where to find and how to interpret marine forecasts for their favorite areas.

Seminar Outline

• A Solid Foundation – A Basic Meteorology Primer
• Interpreting Weather Graphics
• Forecasting Waves
• Wind Forecasting
• Clouds & Precipitation
• Doppler Weather Radar
• Dissecting Low Pressure Systems
• Understanding & Forecasting Thunderstorms
• Creating A Daily Forecast
• Let’s Play Weather Jeopardy!

Classroom instruction, reviewing past events, and hands-on exercises are used to create an engaging learning experience.

Comments From Previous Attendees

• In a single day, Mark was able to bring the basics of marine weather forecasting into sharp focus for our sea kayaking group.  Now well equipped with the seminar’s tools and resources, none of us will ever again believe that a thunderstorm ‘just suddenly appeared’!  
• I recently attended the weather for paddlers seminar.  Mark knows weather AND is a very skillful and thoughtful teacher.  I’ve been paddling and diving for many years and I learned a lot in this class.
• Your seminar was just what we needed for a good start in learning how to assess conditions and risks due weather during both the planning and on-water stages of a paddle. You are a great teacher of the subject.

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About The Presenter

Mark Thornton has been boating on the Great Lakes for more than 30 years. Mark recently transitioned from sailing and now owns Osprey, a Mainship 34 Pilot. He is a 2006 graduate of the Penn State University Certificate of Achievement in Weather Forecasting, a two-year program that develops skills in general, tropical, and severe weather forecasting.

He is the president of LakeErieWX LLC, a company dedicated to providing marine weather education and forecasting resources for recreational boaters (www.lakeeriewx.com). Mark publishes a marine weather blog and teaches basic forecasting seminars to recreational boaters during the off-season. He has served as the Race Meteorologist for the Bayview Race to Mackinac since 2014. Mark is employed as a Teaching Assistant in the Certificate of Achievement in Weather Forecasting Program at Penn State University.

Click here to read about my marine weather forecasting seminars, webinars and presentations. Click here for the current schedule of educational programs.

Email: Mark@LakeErieWX.com
Phone: 440.250.9179