49 



World Network Provides Weather 

 Information to Mariners 



The skipper of a small craft running close 

 to shore can get timely and accurate weather 

 forecasts and warnings from commercial 

 radio stations. But the skipper of an ocean- 

 going vessel needs more refined and special- 

 ized weather services. Through its Marine 

 Weather Service, the Weather Bureau of the 

 Commerce Department's Environmental Sci- 

 ence Services Administration (ESSA) offers 

 this vital information to all mariners. 



Before radio communication, a mariner 

 had to keep a sharp eye on the barometer and 

 study the wind, sea, and clouds to tell what 

 sort of weather he was running into, or what 

 was overtaking him. Near the coast and in 

 port, visual weather warnings --flags by day 

 and lights by night --were of some help. 



Until this century, the lack of data from 

 oceanic areas confined weather advices to 

 descriptions of conditions over coastal and 

 inland waters. In 1905, the first radio weath- 

 er report received by the Weather Bureau 

 from a ship at sea opened a new era in ma- 

 rine forecasts and warnings. It soon became 

 apparent that reports from many different 

 areas could produce a fairly good picture of 

 oceanic weather systems and their movements. 



Shortly thereafter, the meteorological 

 services of all maritime nations were coop- 

 erating in a plan to collect reports from 

 ships and issue advices of storms at sea. 

 Concurrently, an internationally understood 

 numerical code was devised for transmitting 



ships'weather messages. These plans were 

 promoted by the International (now World) 

 Meteorological Organization and are still in 

 use today. 



Fig. 2 - Weather balloon launched from ships to gather informa- 

 tion on upper air. Weather reports from many ships are used to 

 prepare forecasts for aviation and marine interest, (Photo: ESSA) 



Fig. 1 - The Coast Guard cutter "Pontchartrain" battles rough 

 weather on Ocean Station Baker. (Photo: U. S. CoastGuard) 



Fig, 3 - A weather satellite photographed Hurricane Emily threat- 

 ening shipping off Mexico's West Coast in September 1965. Sat- 

 ellite pictures of weather over the oceans have improved fore- 

 casts and warnings prepared for mariners, (Photo; ESSA) 



