StarBulletin.com

Three new buoys deployed to track weather


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POSTED: Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Coast Guard cutter Kukui finished deploying three new weather buoys costing $1.3 million last week that will help with surf forecasts and give the National Weather Service more tools to monitor large storm systems.

Wind and wave analysis from the three new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration buoys are now available from its Web site, http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov.

The buoys will supplement information provided by four existing buoys—three located south of the islands and one northwest of the chain.

The first buoy was deployed 270 miles northwest of Oahu, and the other two are located 250 miles northeast of Oahu.

James Weyman, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service Honolulu forecast office, said: “;There was a gap to the northeast. These buoys will allow us to not only track weather but also monitor the wave height, wave period, and wave direction of incoming swell from the north.”;