Swimming the Internet - August 8, 2008

Busy closing out the swimmng Pool and preparing for Olympic Swimming orgy so no lake swim this week. Perhaps some readers have noticed that lately all days have been great to excellent. Is the Lake getting better or are we getting smarter. I think the later. With all the detailed weather data provided by our goverment I can sit in front of my computer 7 miles from the lake and pick out the great days several days in advance. Here is a primer of how you can do it.

• Go to www.weather.gov (thats dot gov, not dot com)
• Click on Marine under Forecasts on left side menu
• Click on small US map anywhere
• Click large US map on Chicago
• Click on area of Lake you plan to visit (Direct link to here www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/ ) for forecast.
  
• Back on previous page click the Marine tab. You will get a nice wave height chart for the entire Great Lakes, buttons allow you to scroll forward in time about 30 hours. Direct link here is www.crh.noaa.gov/greatlakes
  
• Place cursor on Lake Michigan on left menu, a submenu will appear, select WindsTemps&Levels you will get several graphics of current conditions. Click on any specific graphic for animated forecasts.
• Click on Return to LMOFS for more great charts, or direct http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ofs /lmofs/lmofs.html
  

Note that the charts in the LMOFS site are computer generated, not direct observations. But I find they are fairly accurate. The secret to a great swim is to avoid winds from the northeast or east.