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How North Atlantic Is Covered 



The North Atlantic Ocean area can serve 

 as an example of this system. The Weather 

 Bureau collects reports from shipping in wa- 

 ters west of Longitude 35° W. (extending about 

 1,700 nautical miles from New York City) and 

 also issues bulletins for broadcast to mer- 

 chant shipping. These contain warnings, 

 forecasts, and reports applicable to the area. 

 Meteorological services in western Europe 

 and Africa collect reports from ships in the 

 eastern half of the North Atlantic and broad- 

 cast bulletins covering that area. 



More recently, U. S, weather satellites 

 such as ESSA 1, 2, and 3 have provided pic- 

 tures of weather systems from every part of 

 the earth- -from Indian Ocean typhoons to 

 Saint Lawrence Seaway ice conditions. 



If a captain wants a "weather picture" of 

 his area, a coded weather map analysis --a 

 "canned map" --is available from broadcast 

 bulletins. Using the coded information, he 

 can draw his own map showing locations of 

 Highs, Lows, frontal systems, etc., to de- 

 termine whether he will meet favorable or 

 adverse weather and sea conditions. 



Weather information from ocean areas is 

 also important to airline pilots. To serve the 

 growing stream of oceanic flights that began 

 during World War II, an international net- 

 work of ocean-going weather ships was es- 

 tablished. Twelve ships now are at assigned 

 stations in the North Atlantic and North Pa- 

 cific Oceans, The United States maintains 6 

 vessels; in addition to regular Coast Guard 

 crews, they carry specially trained Weather 

 Bureau technicians to make surface and up- 

 per air reports on daily schedules. 



These floating weather stations, which 

 stay within a 10 -mile square for about 25 



days, collect oceanographic data, provide 

 navigational aids to ships and aircraft, and 

 perform search and rescue duties when re- 

 quired. 



Reports by these ships, ntierchant vessels, 

 coastal and island stations --and satellite 

 photographs of global weather systems -- 

 complete U. S. weather coverage for the high 

 seas. 



8 -Million-Boat Armada 



There are an estimated 8 million boats of 

 all types operating in U. S. coastal waters, 

 lakes, and inland waterways. 



But the shrimp trawler plying the Gulf 

 Stream, the hydroplane in Washington's Puget 

 Sound, the ore -carrying barge on the Great 

 Lakes, and the yacht off California will only 

 put out from shore "weather and seas per- 

 mitting," 



To improve weather services to marine 

 interests --particularly pleasure boating in 

 harbor and coastal areas along the Atlantic 

 and Gulf coasts --Weather Bureau -operated 

 VHF radio stations soon will provide con- 

 tinuous weather warnings, forecasts, and re- 

 ports to mariners. The stations are part of 

 a planned nationwide network. Already, the 

 broadcasts operate in the New York City area 

 and the Chicago area of Lake Michigan, 



ESSA's Environmental Data Service is a 

 data bank for information on average temper- 

 atures, precipitation, cloudiness, etc. Weath- 

 er summaries and climatological tables are 

 available for U. S. and foreign waters; atlases 

 and pilot charts for offshore cruising and 

 transoceanic travel; and climatological sum- 

 maries for individual states aid boaters. 



