On the market there are chart plotters from different manufacturers where you can load weather data in the form of GRIB files. Here are a selection of files from models developed at Meteorological Institute. These files will give you very good information about weather, currents and waves.
Before using these files you are required to familiarize yourself with the terms of service.
Read more about the GRIB format (on Wikipedia).
The GRIB files can contain forecasts for wind, currents and waves (height and direction). The wave information in the files is understood as significant wave height for total sea. That is, wind sea + swells.
A more detailed description of the contents of the files can be found in the table below.
| Content | Area | File size | File name | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current | Skagerrak | 420 kB | norkyst800m_weatherapi_skagerrak.grb | 1 hour, 800 m |
| Current | Oslofjorden | 428 kB | norkyst800m_weatherapi_oslofjord.grb | 1 hour, 800 m |
| Current | Sørlandet | 1.2 MB | norkyst800m_weatherapi_sorlandet.grb | 1 hour, 800 m |
| Current | Vestlandet | 1.1 MB | norkyst800m_weatherapi_west_norway.grb | 1 hour, 800 m |
| Current | Nordsjøen | 414 kB | nordic4km_weatherapi_n-northsea.grb | 1 hour, 4 km |
| Current | Nordland | 445 kB | norkyst800m_weatherapi_nordland.grb | 1 hour, 800 m |
| Current | Troms/Finnmark | 304 kB | norkyst800m_weatherapi_troms-finnmark.grb | 1 hour, 800 m |
| Wind | Skagerrak | 1.1 MB | meps_weatherapi_skagerrak.grb | 1 hour, 2.5 km |
| Wind | Oslofjorden | 560 kB | meps_weatherapi_oslofjord.grb | 1 hour, 2.5 km |
| Wind | Sørlandet | 2.0 MB | meps_weatherapi_sorlandet.grb | 1 hour, 2.5 km |
| Wind | Vestlandet | 4.3 MB | meps_weatherapi_west_norway.grb | 1hour, 2.5 km |
| Wind | Nordsjøen | 310 kB | meps_weatherapi_n-northsea.grb | 1 hour, 2.5 km |
| Wind | Nordland | 1.3 MB | meps_weatherapi_nordland.grb | 1 hour, 2.5 km |
| Wind | Troms/Finnmark | 780 kB | meps_weatherapi_troms-finnmark.grb | 1 hour, 2.5 km |
| Waves | Skagerrak | 719 kB | mywavewam4_weatherapi_skagerrak.grb | 1 hour, 4 km |
| Waves | Oslofjorden | 89 kB | mywavewam4_weatherapi_oslofjord.grb | 1 hour, 4 km |
| Waves | Sørlandet | 225 kB | mywavewam4_weatherapi_sorlandet.grb | 1 hour, 4 km |
| Waves | Vestlandet | 1.2 MB | mywavewam4_weatherapi_west_norway.grb | 1 hour, 4 km |
| Waves | Nordsjøen | 212 kB | mywavewam4_weatherapi_n-northsea.grb | 1 hour, 4 km |
| Waves | Nordland | 519 kB | mywavewam4_weatherapi_nordland.grb | 1 hour, 4 km |
| Waves | Troms-Finnmark | 338 kB | mywavewam4_weatherapi_troms-finnmark.grb | 1 hour, 4 km |
Update frequency
The files are updated several times a day (wind four, waves two and current once). The data gives you information 66 hours in advance, and all times specified are UTC time.
Loading the data
Different chart plotters have different settings for how to load data. We recommend Opencpn or the free version of Adrena and ExpeditionLT. Otherwise, SeaPro, MaxSea, Raytech, and Deckman are examples of software that can utilize this information, as well as several apps for Android and Iphone.
If you experience problems with loading, or that you default settings override your choices, contact your supplier.