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Weather Updates
November 5, 2026 • 3 min read
For a better understanding of what lies ahead. Even when you don’t have internet.
Weather forecasts play an incredibly important role in boating, because the weather can make the difference between a great day at sea and a challenging one. If you are like most boaters, you check the weather forecast several times before and while you are on the water.
Orca’s weather experience is tailored for boating and lets you quickly understand if the weather conditions make for a pleasant or challenging experience.
The latest updates to Orca make the weather experience even better, adding an improved overview table, better tide data, a smarter way to show tide stations, and weather forecasts that are now available when you don’t have an internet connection.
Read on to learn more about the latest update.
A faster way to find great boating days
Orca's weather map helps you understand how the large weather systems evolve. The rich, animated visualizations make it effortless and fun to explore how weather fronts travel and their potential impact on your upcoming trip.
Weather graphs in the Orca’s side panel show you the fine details at 20-minute time increments, so you can understand exactly when to head back to harbour to avoid that afternoon rainfall.
A Channel crossing. A local weather front builds up at three-quarters along the route. The current route proposal barely escapes this weather front and sees 7 m/s peak wind speed, but a delay of 1 hour would give 14 m/s wind speeds.
The latest Orca update adds a daily summary that shows you what to expect in the upcoming days. The summary makes it effortless to spot great boating days. To access the daily summary, open the weather tab and slide upwards to view it.
The 10-day summary makes it easy to spot great boating days and quickly understand tide windows.
Orca’s tide forecast also contains a daily summary of high and low tide times and heights, alongside a graph showing how the tide changes throughout the day.
Better tides
In some regions, tides decide when you can depart and arrive at harbours. When boating in those areas, you need an accurate and reliable way to understand your local tides.
A great detail in Orca is that tidal heights are always shown relative to the local chart datum. This gives you a consistent reference when comparing the tide forecast with depths on your chart.
Orca uses real-time tide-station data and predictions, and in tide-critical areas, data sources are hand-picked to ensure the very best quality. As an example, in the UK, Orca uses UK Hydrographic Office ADMIRALTY tide data. In Germany, real-time tide data from Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH) was recently added.
Orca now delivers high-accuracy tide data from BSH. When a tide station is outside the map view, a marker points towards the station, making it easy to find.
Viewing tide data is effortless in Orca. Open the tide tab, and Orca shows the station closest to the center of your map. Move the map to another area to view the nearest station there. In the latest Orca app update, an edge marker points toward the station when it is outside the visible map – making it easy to understand where the tide station is located.
View your route and weather forecast while offline
Cellular coverage can disappear during a passage, and it usually happens at the worst possible time. Remembering exactly how the weather forecast will be for your route is challenging. This week’s update solves that problem.
In the latest Orca update, saving a route now saves its weather forecast together with the route. Whenever you select that route while online, Orca refreshes the forecast if a new forecast is available. If you later open the route without an internet connection, the latest saved forecast remains available in graphs and tables.
Weather forecasts for routes are now available without an internet connection.
Up to 10-day tide-station information is also available offline once you have viewed a tide station.
Upgrade your navigation experience
Orca is a modern navigation system that excels both at planning and navigation. It delivers instruments, radar overlay, and boat control as you expect from a navigation system – along with a truly modern and incredibly powerful planning experience that deeply integrates weather forecasts.
Orca’s combination of leading global forecast providers and carefully selected regional weather and tide models helps you make better and more informed choices at sea, so you can enjoy the moments that matter.
Orca Display is a great planning and navigation tool.
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