Southern California based Coast Guard Cutter George Cobb repairs vital weather buoys

 
SAN PEDRO, Calif. — Coast Guard Cutter George Cobb, working with technicians from the National Data Buoy Center/NOAA have repaired several key weather-data buoys and are now on station transmitting weather and sea-state data.

“These buoys represent a portion of the weather buoy constellation off the California coast, they are vital to gathering real-time information regarding the offshore sea state,” said Lieutenant Collin Bronson, Commanding Officer of George Cobb.

Bronson went on to say: “The local fishing fleet, freighter and tankers, military vessels and even surfers rely heavily on the data provided by these and many other buoys in order to make informed decisions on where and when to travel at sea. The data buoy program is incredibly valuable to the shipping, scientific, military and recreational boating communities. Additionally as end-users of this data, we as the Coast Guard rely heavily on the precision forecasting for our own operations especially during search and rescue operations.”

These data buoys are the “sentinels of the sea” and are used to measure and transmit air and sea temperatures, wind speed and direction, wave height, direction and period, as well as barometric pressure changes. This information is then be compiled into weather reports and predictions heavily depended upon by commercial, private and military mariners alike. The information provided assists the National Weather Service in developing weather reports for the entire California coast.