Choose the Sicilian coast first: Tyrrhenian, Ionian and southern approaches are different tasks.
Forecast sectors and coverage
Find the Meteomar sector for the coast actually crossed. A north-coast/Aeolian plan, an eastern-coast plan and a passage south of Sicily may need different sea products and neighbouring issuing coverage.
Weather-sensitive legs
Treat a Strait of Messina passage as a separate tide/current and approach problem, not a shortcut inferred from an island forecast. Use current charts and locally applicable publications; this dossier does not provide stream timings.
Observations, sea state and reassessment
Keep wind, swell and current evidence distinct. An ocean model field does not establish local stream phase; a coastal observation may not represent the opposite side of the island.
Worked planning scenario — not a live forecast
For a Sicily–Aeolian leg, compare the crossing and island-arrival ETA. If a strait is added, make it another leg with its own source requirements instead of extending the model window mechanically.
Official products by task
- Aeronautica Militare: Meteomar entry point — Service portal: open MARE E MONTAGNA / Meteomar and the gale bulletin; this URL is not itself the bulletin.
- WMO–IMO METAREA directory — Identify the responsible issuer for a high-seas area; follow through to the current issuing product.
Sector names help you locate the issuing product; they are not an automatic route-coverage match. Open the current issue and check boundaries, issue time and validity. This page does not display current warnings; an unavailable product does not mean no hazard.
Countries & territories
- Italy
Compare Sardinia, Sicily, Naples and the wider Adriatic/Tyrrhenian context.
Map orientation
The approximate map centre is not an approach waypoint, track, depth survey or forecast-zone boundary. The third-party map loads only on request.
Build your passage brief
Bring your route, leg timings, vessel and crew profile, checked sources and reassessment triggers into the brief. Personal AI analysis and expert review are available to invited closed-test participants; a port page does not extend the calculation service’s coverage.
A Sailing Weather editorial guide to local conditions, practical passage preparation and marine-weather sources. Source and structure review: 27 September 2026. For a specific passage, check current issues, validity and forecast coverage. The skipper retains the final decision and responsibility.
The coast determines the source question
Choose whether the voyage follows northern Sicily, the eastern coast, the southern approaches or a connection through Messina. Read the Meteomar named sea area that corresponds to that plotted leg and the separate gale warning. An Aeolian stop and a Malta-bound crossing are not two versions of the same Sicily forecast. On a longer southward leg, identify the next responsible marine service rather than stretching a city forecast offshore.
- Italian Air Force Meteomar entry point — Marine map and text menu, not a current bulletin in this article Direct product verification is limited; obtain the current issue from the issuer.
- Italian gale-warning documentation — How Avviso di Burrasca is defined; named sea areas Direct product verification is limited; obtain the current issue from the issuer.
- Malta Meteorological Office weather and mariners section — Mariners weather, sea and swell; island stations do not measure the Sicily Channel Direct product verification is limited; obtain the current issue from the issuer.
Do not mix a strait schedule with a wave forecast
If Messina is included, create its own navigation/current task beside the weather task. A regional wave height cannot establish current direction, slack water or traffic requirements. Obtain the applicable hydrographic publication and current local notices before fixing a transit time. Offshore swell at an Aeolian arrival must also be assessed independently of apparently sheltered water beside the Sicilian departure coast.
- Italian Air Force Meteomar entry point
- WMO–IMO marine warnings and issuer directory — METAREA service selection; website can have delayed or interrupted products
Reassess at the transition between seas
For a voyage continuing around a Sicilian headland, note when the destination changes from one coast exposure to another and obtain a product valid through that later approach. Compare a stop before the transition with continuing, including daylight and the crew's ability to tolerate a longer sea state. If local-current evidence has not been obtained, keep that unresolved item visible; model agreement does not resolve it.
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.