CHESAPEAKE BAY
Coastal Prediction Center

Marine Observations
Thomas Point, MD
Chesapeake Light, VA

Chesapeake Bay Observing System (CBOS)

Offshore Environmental Information for
ANNAPOLIS to BERMUDA OCEAN RACE
Participants

Bermuda Ocean Racers have relied on Jenifer Clark’s Gulf Stream analyses for years – see her website at

http://users.erols.com/gulfstrm

There is also a great deal of  information on ocean currents and weather available to the general public on the Internet.  Here are some sites you can look at to prepare for the race:

OCEAN CURRENTS from NOAA COASTWATCH Caribbean Node in Miami:  An interactive viewer lets you look at near real-time current velocity estimated from satellite altimetry

www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/dataphod/work/trinanes/INTERFACE/index.html

OCEAN CURRENTS are also available for the Gulf Stream region in a from the University of Colorado

http://argo.colorado.edu/~realtime/welcome/

But how about a FORECAST of OCEAN CURRENTS?  See the Naval Research Lab model results at

http://www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil/global_nlom/globalnlom/gfs.html

And one and 24 and 48 hour offshore regional CURRENT FORECASTS are available from NOAA

http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/cofs/

The above are based primarily on Satellite Altimetry, measurements of  sea surface height (SSH).  Ocean currents relate to SSH gradients just like winds relate to surface barometric pressure gradients.  In the Gulf Stream region, SSH is closely associated with SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE (SST), so SST is also a good estimator of velocity.  And unlike SSH, YOU can measure SST from your boat.

Good quality SATELLITE SST images for the Gulf Stream region are available from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab at

http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/avhrr/gs/index.html

The Naval Oceanographic Office provides SST ANALYSES at the following location
(click on 'Oceanographic Products on the left margin)

SEA STATE Forecasts from the US Navy Fleet Numerical Met. & Oceanography Center, forecast out to 6 days. 

https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/PUBLIC/WW3/

WINDS:  Too many weather models to count.  Try starting here:

https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/PUBLIC/WXMAP/DOC/

 NOAA Chesapeake
 Bay Office
 410 Severn Ave
 Suite 107
 Annapolis, MD 21403
 T: 410-267-5660
 F: 410-267-5666