This is a pre-passage source and decision desk, not a current forecast or clearance to depart. The map is centred approximately on the area, not on your route or a forecast-zone boundary.
Check the current tropical warning separately from the routine marine forecast; neither an island app nor a model animation substitutes for the responsible coastal bulletin. Reef entrances also require current chart and local-authority information.
1. Primary sources
Open current bulletins and warnings for every sea area on the route. These links are starting points, not a promise that each covers the whole location; if unsure, identify the issuer through WMO–IMO.
2. Route and local effects
Treat the crossing, current and port approach as separate planning problems.
A Cuba–Florida crossing involves a long exposed strait, strong current and separate port approaches.
Use NHC offshore and relevant NWS coastal products for their stated coverage; compare wind against current and tropical alerts without assuming a Florida city forecast covers Cuban waters.
How to use this source set
Start with the warning, then the marine text for the exact named area. If the route crosses a zone boundary, obtain both bulletins. Note issue and valid times, wind units and the meaning of wave height. Where a link opens an agency portal, navigate to its current marine product; a homepage is not itself a forecast.
Compare with an exposed station or buoy if available. Check its position and observation time: a sheltered station does not overturn a warning for an open channel. If a bulletin is missing or stale, identify the issuing service via WMO–IMO and defer the decision until current information is available.
Before-passage check
- Mark departure, exposed legs, arrival and feasible diversions; find the responsible named marine areas for each.
- Check warnings, issue and valid times; assess conditions when you expect to reach each leg, not only at departure.
- Compare wind and gusts, waves and swell, visibility, thunderstorms and local effects; do not infer a strait from a sheltered harbour.
- Compare recent observations where available, noting their time and exposure; a mismatch calls for another check.
- Set the next bulletin check, a reassessment trigger, an alternative and a backup communication channel.
Model map — optional
Windy is a third-party model display, not the issuer of official warnings. Choose a layer and check its valid hour and model run. Nothing loads until you click.
Without JavaScript, open the map separately.
If connectivity fails
Before departure, save the current official text bulletin and warning with issue time. Arrange another way to receive updates, such as an appropriate coastal broadcast, NAVTEX or satellite channel. A saved map cannot replace new warnings.
How to choose weather tools · All sailing areas
Scope: Source list assembled 25 September 2026; check its freshness and coverage before use. This public area guide is not a current personalised forecast, navigational notice service or safety verdict. Personalised forecasts with AI and experts are in closed testing; public booking is not open. The skipper makes the decision.
A current crossing is not a straight-line weather sample
For a Florida–Cuba proposal, examine the current context and the wind direction across the strait at the expected passage time. OPC's methodology explains why opposing wind can aggravate seas in the Florida Current/Gulf Stream system. Its historical experimental page is background, not proof that an old graphic is currently operational. Obtain fresh applicable marine products and retain a slower-progress case in the route comparison.
- OPC wind-against-current methodology — Explains interaction and historic experimental guidance; no claim the old graphic is operational now.
- NWS Melbourne: Florida Current context — Current-position context; old analyses and guidance are not current measurements.
Do not substitute Florida products for Cuban local evidence
Key West and NHC products can describe their stated waters and wider weather context; they do not supply Cuban port access or every local coastal warning. Identify the current Cuban issuer and port authority through official channels before finalising the destination. If that information is not obtainable, flag the missing evidence explicitly. Weather preparation cannot settle immigration, permitted ports or other administrative requirements.
- NWS Key West marine desk — Keys warnings, marine messages, forecast discussion and ocean context.
- NHC marine products — Broader Gulf, Caribbean and tropical Atlantic/Pacific context; confirm the current product at the issuer. Direct product verification is limited; obtain the current issue from the issuer.
Reassess before the long exposed commitment
Compare departure alternatives at the current-crossing ETA and Cuban approach, not only at the Florida marina. If an updated wind direction increases opposition to the current, or delay changes arrival visibility and light, rerun the complete plan. A shorter geographic distance does not itself make a crossing less demanding. Document the destination evidence and the point beyond which a return or diversion becomes materially different.
Editorial review of this material: 27 September 2026. This date concerns the page content; check current forecast issue times and validity at the original sources.