Using the German Weather Service (DWD)
© Copyright 2005: Jack Tyler
In today’s cruising, it’s become relatively easy to obtain real-time weather forecast products while at sea. And crews who wish to shape their route with a weather forecast in mind cherish this ability. Deciding which weather forecast products to use and sorting out how to get them when independent of shore is of course a very large subject. You may well have some weather products already available to you if e.g. you are a Winlink or Sailmail user, or subscribe to a satellite-based system from Inmarsat, Globalstar or Iridium. But these communication systems make obtaining ever more forecast products possible and, unlike a decade ago when obtaining real time weather offshore was difficult and expensive, you may find you now have too much.
And so your challenge becomes one of understanding, from the varied forecast products you can potentially obtain, which ones you would prefer to use and then how to fetch them. One place you can start is by reviewing a few good cruising-related websites that discuss this topic in depth, since others have captured what they have learned for the benefit of those of us who follow. Cruising in general but weather forecast products in particular seems to be a subject with which we all share – and learn from – one another. Among the many websites that can prove helpful, let me recommend two to help you start building your own foundation of what is available from whom and how to get it:
Weather for Sailors: Frank Singleton's Front Page
Frank is a retired UK meteorologist with a lot of cruising experience in Northern Europe & Med waters. My impression is that this site’s content is broad but oriented more to web-based sources and coastal (e.g. VHF and cell phone) access with less dependence on HF and SSB-based methods. Frank’s overarching goal appears to be a comprehensive discussion of all possible weather resources usable in Europe.
However, I’ve written this article about one specific source of weather products that I’d like to recommend to you.
What is so special about the DWD?
Out of this large forest, I’m zooming in on one tree: the German Weather Service or Deutsche Wetter Dienst – ‘DWD’ for short. You might well ask why. Well, imagine you are cruising just about anywhere in Europe. Perhaps inside the Med, or maybe w-a-y up in the Baltic. You may be on passage to the Iberian Peninsula, either eastbound from the Azores, nearing the end of your Atlantic Crossing, or while sailing across the Bay of Biscay. In all these regions, the DWD is an excellent source of weather forecasts with products geared to each of these regions. The DWD forecasts are worth knowing about because:
a) They are offered for most cruising areas of Europe (even including your return run via Madera down to the Canaries, and also the run between Gibraltar and the UK;
b) Because the DWD has gained a good deal of respect as one of the most accurate of the European forecast services, and
c) Because the DWD has solid signals that insure you can receive these products, and offer some of these products in English
For these reasons, we’ve personally been impressed with the DWD and so we thought a summary of what it offers and how to obtain them might be helpful to others. In fact, DWD’s forecasts are so good that the UK marine electronics manufacturer NASA markets a standalone receiver that does little beyond capturing the RTTY signals that carry the DWD forecasts. These have sold like hotcakes down in the Med, one of the regions the DWD forecasts and which is especially difficult to forecast effectively.
What Products Does the DWD Offer?
You will find the full English listing of currently available DWD products, along with times & frequencies, at:
Geographic Terminology: DWD transmitters and towers are located outside Hamburg, Germany but are also identified as the Offenbach site and e.g. REEDS points out their weather fax products are labeled as Offenbach transmissions; both terms refer to the DWD operation.
How Do I Obtain DWD Forecasts?
Subscription: You can subscribe for this service and receive products by fax or on-line (www.dwd-shop.de/). Not fully satisfactory for the typical cruising sailor.
Dedicated Receiver: You can choose a product like NASA’s Clipper Weatherman (Nasa Marine Instruments Ltd) which is a standalone unit costing approximately £250 or $500 USD. The advantages of using such a receiver are that it uses milliamps and is therefore typically left on for extended periods of time, just as a Navtex receiver is used. This makes the collection of forecasts a hands-off event (you can be out & about, visiting the places you worked hard to reach) and this method also does not require an expensive radio and its associated components. However, if your boat is already SSB and computer equipped, then the main advantage of a supplemental dedicated receiver is that you won’t miss a forecast when you are off the boat or the forecast is sent at an odd time, and you didn’t want to leave the electronics running.
Downloading RTTY transmissions using a SSB Receiver: A few of these forecasts are available on the Winlink catalog file directory (e.g. the Skagerrak/Kattegat/Belts & Sounds/Baltic Forecast). However, in most cases you need to download the forecast you want manually. By this, I mean tuning your SSB to the correct frequency and then either via proprietary software and your laptop’s sound card OR by using a Terminal Node Controller (TNC or ‘radio modem’) that is connected between your SSB & laptop.
More about using a SSB & TNC: If you are using the Sailmail or Winlink systems (and therefore running Airmail client software on your laptop) an easy way to manually capture DWD products is by using Getfax. This free software was developed by Jim Corenman who is the author of Airmail. It is available for downloading, along with its companion software, Viewfax, at www.siriuscyber.net/wxfax. These programs are installed within Airmail and will allow you to download, view, manipulate and file DWD text forecasts as well as weather fax, Navtex and other useful products.
To download a DWD forecast:
light off your laptop, TNC and SSB prior to the forecast’s transmission time
open the Getfax program by clicking on the ‘fax machine’ icon to the left of the Terminal Window (‘world’) icon
in Getfax, select RTTY from the Mode pull-down menu or by choosing the RTTY icon (this will ‘alert’ your TNC) and select the correct frequency from the frequency window. If using a PTC II, IIex or IIPro, your radio will now select the proper frequency offset. If using a IIe or IIex, you will need to select your own offset. Contrary to the DWD’s recommendations, Getfax offsets down 1500 Hz on USB mode so e.g. the DWD’s 4.583 MHz frequency requires 4.581.5 MHz be set for USB mode
After a product is received, it will be automatically saved by time/date stamp in the Faxfiles folder within Airmail.
A General Note: Unlike the U.S., weather information is often considered a commercial commodity in Europe. As a result, national governments are reluctant to make it available because it can be a revenue generator for the government and/or they can be perceived as competing with private enterprise. Usually, if you contact the local coastal SAR facility (and you share a common language) via VHF or HF, they will gladly offer a weather forecast. But for a number of reasons when not coastal sailing, this can be difficult…and once you have it, you may find it’s not highly accurate. Generally, the French and German weather service forecasts seem to be quite accurate: the French ones because they can be fairly general since they can cover large areas, the German ones because they are just plain accurate. (Yes, that’s editorial comment…). So…if you have a SSB and some way (proprietary software or TNC) to capture the DWD products, I’d highly encourage you to sample them and see what you think.
The Appendices:
Appendix 1: A sample section illustrating the DWD Forecast Schedule
Appendix 2: Some DWD products are in German, but their basic content is accessible to those who don’t read German. Appendix 2 is intended to help you get a feel for what how a DWD forecast is structured. It has been annotated in English so you can understand the standard format they use…
Appendix 3: …and this basic German – English dictionary will help you interpret the guts of a German language forecast that you would like to use.
Sample Segment of DWD’s Forecast Schedule
CH# |
Frequency |
Desig. |
Time Period |
Power |
Emission |
|
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
147,3 kHz |
DDH 47 |
05.30 - 22.00 UTC |
20 kW |
F1B |
50 Baud |
+ / - 42.5 Hz |
|
11039 kHz |
DDH 9 |
05.30 - 22.00 UTC |
1 kW |
F1B |
50 Baud |
+ / - 225 Hz |
|
14467,3 kHz |
DDH 8 |
05.30 - 22.00 UTC |
1 kW |
F1B |
50 Baud |
+ / - 225 Hz |
|
4583 kHz |
DDK 2 |
00.00 - 24.00 UTC |
1 kW |
F1B |
50 Baud |
+ / - 225 Hz |
|
7646 kHz |
DDH 7 |
00.00 - 24.00 UTC |
1 kW |
F1B |
50 Baud |
+ / - 225 Hz |
|
10100,8 kHz |
DDK 9 |
00.00 - 24.00 UTC |
10 kW |
F1B |
50 Baud |
+ / - 225 Hz |
Progr. 1 |
Progr. 2 |
Forecast Product |
Heading / Time (UTC) |
---|---|---|---|
00:00 |
----- |
Warnings for German Bight, Western and Southern Baltic Sea, German North Sea and Baltic Sea coast (in German / English) |
WODL45 EDZW 0000 |
00:05 |
----- |
Weather report North Sea and Baltic Sea (in English), 24 Hrs |
FQEN70 EDZW 0000 |
00:20 |
----- |
* Weather report German North Sea and Baltic Sea coast (in English), 12 Hrs |
FQEN71 EDZW 0000 |
03:00 |
----- |
Warnings for the sea areas (in German / English), see 00:00 UTC |
WODL45 EDZW 0300 |
03:05 |
----- |
* Weather report North Sea and Baltic Sea (in English), see 00:05 UTC 24 Hrs |
FQEN70 EDZW 0300 |
* Grey background indicates forecast product is in English
(text within parentheses, bold, all caps is my translation or comment)
Seewetterbericht für Nord- und Ostsee (bis H+24)
(SEA WEATHER F’CAST FOR THE NORTH SEA & BALTIC)
================================================
herausgegeben vom Deutschen Wetterdienst,
Seewetterdienst Hamburg am 15.06.04, 03.00 GZ
(PROVIDED BY THE GERMAN WEATHER SVC, HAMBURG)
Wetterlage: (SYNOPSIS)
Hoch 1035 dicht südwestlich von Irland abschwächend,
wenig westwandernd. Keil 1025 Hessen, 1020 Ukraine
abschwächend, etwas südschwenkend. Sturmtief 984
Nordskandinavien wenig ostziehend. Ausläufer 1010
Danziger Bucht, 1015 Jütland, 1013 Shetlands
südostschwenkend.
Vorhersagen bis Dienstag abend: (F’CAST UNTIL TUES EVE)
Deutsche Bucht: West 5 bis 6, etwas zunehmend,
nordwestdrehend, später einzelne Schauerböen und
strichweise diesig, See 2 Meter.
(Note: Other North Sea areas deleted for clarity)
Skagerrak: West bis Nordwest 6, Südteil 7,
Schauerböen, strichweise diesig, See 2 bis 3 Meter.
Kattegat: West 6 bis 7, später West bis Nordwest 7
bis 8, Schauerböen, See bis 3 Meter.
Belte und Sund: West bis Nordwest 6 bis 7, einzelne
Schauerböen, See 1 bis 1,5 Meter.
Westliche Ostsee: West 6, zunehmend 7, später etwas
rechtdrehend, einzelne Schauerböen, strichweise
diesig, See bis 2 Meter.
Südliche Ostsee: West 6, zunehmend 7, später etwas
rechtdrehend, einzelne Schauerböen, See 2 bis 2,5
Meter.
(Note: Other Baltic areas deleted for clarity)
Aussichten bis Mittwoch früh: (OUTLOOK UNTIL EARLY WED)
Deutsche Bucht: Nordwest um 6.
Skagerrak: Nordwest um 7.
Kattegat: Nordwest 8, abnehmend 6.
Belte und Sund: West bis Nordwest 7, später etwas
abnehmend,
Westliche Ostsee: Nordwest 7.
Südliche Ostsee: West bis Nordwest 7.
Trend für die Nordsee: (TREND FOR THE NORTH SEA)
(UNTIL WED EVE) bis Mittwoch Abend: Nordwestliche Winde um 6,
Westteil um 4.
(FOR THURS) für Donnerstag: Nord bis Nordwest 5 bis 6, Südteil
abnehmend 4.
(FOR FRIDAY) für Freitag: Nördliche Winde um 6, Südteil um 5.
Trend für die Ostsee: (TREND FOR THE BALTIC)
(UNTIL WED EVE) bis Mittwoch Abend: Nordwestliche Winde 5 bis 6,
Südwestteil anfangs 7.
(FOR THURS) für Donnerstag: Nordwestliche Winde um 5, etwas
abnehmend, rückdrehend.
(FOR FRIDAY) für Freitag: Ostteil Südwestliche Winde um 4,
Westteil West bis Nordwest 4 bis 5.
As used in the Deutsche Wetter Dienst (DWD) Forecasts
German Term | English Equivalent |
---|---|
Abschwächend |
Decreasing |
Anfangs |
Initial or commencing |
Auffullend |
Filling |
Ausläufer |
Trough |
Dieseg |
Less |
Drehend (as in ostdrehend) |
Swinging (as in ‘swinging east’) |
Festliegend |
Stationary |
Gewitterböen |
Thunderstorms |
Hoch |
High |
Langsam |
Slowly |
Nebelfelder |
Fog |
Nord |
North |
Nord See |
North Sea |
Ost |
East |
Ost Zee |
Baltic |
Schauerböen |
Showers |
Schwach |
Weak |
Sonst |
Otherwise |
Strickweise |
Occasionally |
Süd |
South |
Teil (as in Nord Teil) |
Part |
Tief |
Low |
Umlaufend (as in schwach umlaufend) |
Weak, variable |
Verlagered |
Shifting, variable? |
Vertiefend |
Deepening |
Vorhersagen |
Outlook |
Vorübergehend |
Passed (by) |
Wenig ändernd |
Changing little |
West |
West |
Ziehend |
Drifting, dragging |
Zunehmend |
Increasing |