Weather Terminology used in Broadcasts by CROSS

The following is a compilation of the more common terms that I have heard used in broadcasts of marine forecasts produced by Météo-France. In general public weather broadcasts and in conversation, many other weather terms are used and may be found in Macmillans, RYA booklet G5, the French Livre de Bord and le Guide Marine de Mété o-France. The modern French convention of not using the circumflex and cedilla accents has been followed.

Any corrections, amendments or other suggestions to franksingleton@clara.net.

The French equivalent of the BBC shipping forecast is known as le Bulletin au large and can be heard in broadcasts from Radio France. Parts of the Bulletin au large and warnings (Bulletins Météorologiques Spécials - BMS) are also broadcast by some CROSS stations on VHF channels.

French inshore waters forecasts, similar to our MarineCall - prévisions or bulletins cotières et peches - are broadcast on marine VHF channels at times to be found in MacMillans Almanac, RYA G5 and le guide marine de Météo-France (free from most French marinas) and also on web site "www.meteo.fr" under the heading "services spécialisés". The Météo-France booklet is likely to be the most up to date version. CROSS broadcast three times a day from most stations and five times a day from the CROSS Corsen satellite stations during the period 1 May to 30 September. Forecasts are often repeated, sometimes phrase by phrase and sometimes as a whole. On the whole, they are read out reasonably slowly and clearly so as to be understandable by anyone with a modicum of French. Even non-French speakers can get a good deal from this service.

CROSS Etel is usually very good, slow and clear. Corsen and Joburg are not quite as slow but usually OK. Sous-CROSS Soulac can be a litle fast, possible also there is a problem with the alocal accent, I am not sure. Gris-Nez can be very fast, probably too fast unless you really are used to following the broadcasts.

Morning and afternoon forecasts are for today (aujourd'hui), tonight (la nuit de ...) and an outlook (tendance ultérieure) which may be for just one day or can be for several days ahead. The evening forecast is a new forecast and covers tonight (la nuit prochaine), tomorrow (le jour de ....) and an outlook Many French marinas display transcripts of the morning broadcasts. These transcripts are a useful way of checking on your ability to understand the broadcasts.

Wind

North

Nord

South-west

Sud-ouest or Surroit

North-east

Nord-est or Nordé

West

Ouest

East

Est

North-west

Nord-ouest or Norroit

South-east

Sud-est or Sudé

North-west

Nord-ouest or Norroit

Veering

Virant or Tournant

Freshening

Fraichissant

Backing

Retournant or Revenant

Moderating

Décroissant or Mollissant

Becoming (in direction)

S'Orientant

Becoming

Devenant

Lull

Accalmie

Cyclonic variable

Vents cycloniques

Gust

Rafale

Squall

Grain

Line squall

Ligne de grain

Offshore wind

Vent de terre

Sea breeze

Brise de mer, sometimes just Brise

Daytime sea breezes and night time land breezes

Brises or Régime des brises

Calm - F0

Calme

Light airs - F1

Très légère brise

Light breeze - F2

Légère brise

Gentle breeze - F3

Petite brise

Moderate Breeze - F4

Jolie brise

Fresh breeze - F5

Bonne brise

Strong Breeze - F6

Vent frais

Near gale - F7

Grand frais

Gale - F8

Coup de vent

Severe gale - F9

Fort coup de vent

Storm - F10

Tempete

Violent storm - F11

Violent tempete

Hurricane - F12

Ouragan

Warning

Avis or BMS

Strong wind warning

Avis de vent frais (or grand frais)

Gale warning

Avis de coup de vent

Storm warning

Avis de tempete

NB Forecasts very occasionally use the Breton words, Norroit etc for North-west etc. These greatly aid clarity.

Weather

Fine

Beau temp or Clair

Cloudy

Nuageux

Overcast

Couvert

Rain

Pluie

Drizzle

Crachin

Showers

Averses

Snow

Neige

Hail

Grele

Sleet

Neige et pluie

Thunderstorm

Orage

Fog

Brouillard

Stormy (ie thundery)

Orageuse

Mist

Brume

Clear spells or bright intervals

Eclaircie

Light or slight

Faible

Heavy or dense, (sometimes also Humid)

Lourd

Isolated

Isolé

Frequent

Fréquent

Extensive or widespread

Extendue

Clearing

Eclaircissement

Becoming

Devenant

Improvement

Amélioration

Occasional

Epars or Occasionel

Temporarily

Témporaires

Locally

Localement

Risk of

Menace de

Increasing

Augmentant

Dispersing or clearing

Se dispersant, S'atténuant or

Se dissipant

Continuous

Continue

Intermittent

Intermittent

NB In marine forecasts broadcast by CROSS the words Brume (mist) and Bruine (drizzle) are not usually used to avoid confusion with each other Words are not usually used to describe visibility which is given in miles (milles) or metres. Crachin is usually used for drizzle.

Weather systems and other terms

The forecast

Prévision or Le météo

Front warm/cold

Front chaud/froid

General synopsis

Situation général et évolution

None (in the sense of no warnings)

Néant or Rien prévu

Warning or Special broadcast

Avis or Bulletin Météorologique Spécial (BMS)

Outlook

Tendance ultérieure

High Pressure

Anticyclone or Haut pression

Low pressure

Dépression or Bas pression

Ridge

Dorsale

Trough

Creux

Heat low

Dépression thermique

Shallow low

Dépression relative

Complex low

Dépression complexe

Large shallow (thundery) low

Marais barométrique

Deepening

Se creusant

Filling

Se comblant

Air stream

Courant (d'air) or Flux

Disturbed westerly weather, series of warm and cold fronts

Flux perturbé or Perturbation

Cold/warm front

Front froid/chaud

Waving cold front

Front froid ondulant

Warm sector

Secteur chaud

Moving

Se déplacant

Deep

Profond

Stationary

Stationnaire

Quickly

Rapidement

Slowly

Lentement

Swell

Houle

Waves

Vagues

Sea state

Etat de la mer

Calm

Calme

Smooth

Belle

Slight

Peu agitée

Moderate

Agitée

Rough

Forte

Very rough

Trés forte

High

Grosse

NB Météo-France uses the scientifically correct term hectopascal for units of pressure. 1 hectopascal = 1 millibar.

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© Frank Singleton, February 2000

2 February 2000