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With Hurricane Gustav now a Category 4 and gaining strength, the 2008 season is really starting to peak in strength.  So gCaptain has put together a list of the best hurricane tracking website to help keep you informed and stay safe.  Below are links and graphs we are using to track Gustav

IBISeye.com tracks any active tropical depression, tropical storm or hurricane with accompanying news and any watches or warnings. Click on the map to interact.

Weather Underground provides forecasts for the US and the world with a fast, easy to use interface. The site is full weather maps, graphics and radar images, including a great tropical weather section with satellite maps, sea surface temperatures and hurricane advisories.

Of course NOAA has some of the most extensive, accurate and up to minute information to help track storms and provides official US weather, marine, fire and aviation forecasts, warnings, meteorological products, climate forecasts and information about meteorology.  NOAA’s National Hurricane Center will provide you with everything you need to know to stay safe and knowledgable.

The US Navy NOGAPS Weather Forecast is another great resource for tracking storms with information provided by the US Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System.

Of the countless sites out there to help track weather, these are just a few of our favorites, so hopefully this will help everyone with their hurricane tracking needs.  After all the best way to stay safe is to stay informed so if anyone out there knows any other great resources you prefer, we would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

LINKS:

IBISeye.com Hurricane Tracking

Weather Underground’s Tropical Weather Page

NOAA’s National Hurricane Center

US Navy NOGAPS Forecast

All these links can also be found in gCaptain Tools Section

In a Press Release on August 19, NOAA announced its new Southeast U.S. Marine Weather website.  It reads:

NOAA has launched a one-stop Southeast Marine Weather Internet portal offering marine weather forecasts and real-time coastal wind and water condition information for the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

The portal is the result of a two-year, $579,546 NOAA-funded project implemented within the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association, through the University of North Carolina/Wilmington. The portal is an experimental product developed in cooperation with NOAA’s National Weather Service and the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).

“The goal is to supply people with everything they might need to know to make the smartest decisions,” said Zdenka Willis, NOAA IOOS Program director. “Easier access to timely and useful water, weather and climate information will save lives, property and resources.”

The portal is part of IOOS, a tool for tracking, predicting, managing and adapting to changes in the marine environment. IOOS delivers data and information needed to increase understanding of the nation’s waters to improve safety, enhance the economy and protect the environment.

”The Southeast Marine Weather Portal has been developed with the end user - the mariner, sailor, surfer, beachgoer - in mind,” said Jennifer Dorton, program coordinator with the Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program at UNC Wilmington. “The portal provides the information they need to make safe and informed decisions before going out on the water or to the beach.”

For more real time weather charts and forecasts, check out gCaptain’s weather portal in our Tools page HERE.

Okeanos Explorer, the first federal ship dedicated solely to ocean exploration, was commissioned on Saturday in Seattle, WA.

A former U.S. Navy surveillance vessel, the ship was transferred to NOAA in 2004 and converted to perform ocean exploration. The Okeanos Explorer will use telepresence – satellite and high-speed Internet-based technology – to enable scientists on shore at any of five Exploration Command Centers to participate in and direct real-time exploration while viewing live images and other ocean data. (source: NOAA)

The Okeanos Explorer is in direct support of President Bush’s Ocean Action Plan, developed to promote an ethic of responsible use and stewardship for our oceans and coastal resources.  The ship will serve three primary purposes:

1. deep water (to 6,000 m) mapping,
2. science class ROV operations, and
3. real-time broadband satellite transmission of data.

It is said that 95 percent of the world’s ocean is unseen by humans, and what is yet to be uncovered could hold clues to the origins of life on Earth, cures for human diseases, answers to how to achieve sustainable use of our oceans, links to our maritime history, and information to protect the endangered species of the sea.  The Okeanos Explorer aims to not only test scientists hypotheses about the ocean, but generate new ones as well.

NOAA’s oldest and only wooden research ship remaining in its fleet, the John N. Cobb, has been decommissioned in Seattle after 58 years of service.

The 93-foot fisheries research vessel has been active in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations’ fleet since 1950, spending most of its time in Alaskan waters.  A press release from NOAA states:

“The John N. Cobb has been an extremely productive platform for NOAA. She has been operating with her original 1931-design Fairbanks-Morse engine until this year,” said Rear Admiral Jonathan W. Bailey, director of the NOAA Corps, one of the nation’s seven uniformed services, and NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. “We are sad to see Cobb go, but it would not be the best use of NOAA’s resources to perform the maintenance and repairs required to keep her in service.”

The John N. Cobb has seen some interesting and unusual sights in its day and is retired with a career full of highlights.  Notable missions include:

*  From 1950 to 1962, Cobb conducted a series of bottomfish and shellfish surveys from southern Oregon to the Arctic Ocean. These early surveys still provide baseline data for current environmental evaluations
* Cobb helped pioneer the use of surface rope trawls, which led to the development of an important long-term data set on the biological and physical factors affecting annual fluctuations in the population strength of specific groups of salmon.
* The Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 kept Cobb busy for several years supporting evaluations of the effects of the oil spill on the Prince William Sound ecosystem.
* Cobb came to the assistance of two vessels in distress in Alaska — the purse seine vessel Karen Rae in the mid 1990s and the Alaska state ferry Le Conte in 2004.
* Cobb participated in a burial at sea in 1999. The ashes of Dr. Richard Carlson of the Auke Bay Laboratories were spread in the waters of Auke Bay at the wishes of his family.

The rest of NOAA’s press release can be found HERE.

Another good article with some interesting information on the John N. Cobb can be found in The Seattle Times HERE.

NOAA has increased its confidence for an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season in an updated outlook for the 2008 season released today.  NOAA is now projecting an 85% probability of an above-normal season, up from just the 65% probability of the May outlook.

Included in these numbers are the 5 named storms already formed this season.  In May, NOAA forecast just 12-16 named storms with 6-9 developing into hurricanes.  The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and on average produces 11 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes.

Forecasters attribute this adjustment to atmospheric and oceanic conditions across the Atlantic Basin that favor storm development - combined with the strong early season activity including a very active July, the third most active since 1886.

A NOAA forecaster states:

“Leading indicators for an above-normal season during 2008 include the continuing multi-decadal signal – atmospheric and oceanic conditions that have spawned increased hurricane activity since 1995 – and the lingering effects of La Niña,” said Gerry Bell, Ph.D., lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “Some of these conditions include reduced wind shear, weaker trade winds, an active West African monsoon system, the winds coming off of Africa and warmer-than-average water in the Atlantic Ocean.”

The full NOAA press release can be found HERE.

Also see the Weather Charts, Tools & More section of gCaptain’s Tools page for all your weather and tracking needs.

The above shows a notice box on NOAA’s current 24hr Surface Prediction Chart which can be found HERE. It states:

On 08/15/08 the limits of this chart will change to 24N-48N, 48W-101W. Send comments to David.Feit@noaa.gov by 07/15/08

Notice on the live version of this chart Hurricane Bertha and the area of low pressure to her Northeast are both outside the proposed limits! Here at gCaptain we consider this a degradation of service not a simple adjustment of scale and are supprised by this move from an otherwise rational government organization. It is our opinion that the boundries of this chart should instead be increased to cover the entire North Atlantic which would bring it inline with NOAA’s 48 and 96 hour prediction charts (view all charts HERE)!

Please leave your comments regarding this change bleow and we will be sure they get fowarded on to Mr. Feit and our contacts at NOAA.

Pictured above is the newly refurbished ex-NOAA vessel McArthur, a 183-ft. ship that boasts “state of the art navigation systems, full GMDDSS communications, SEATEL Broadband, dedicated command and control bas, helicopter decks, hospital and multiple support vessel capabilities.”

What’s newsworthy about this vessel is the company that purchased it, Blackwater USA, the private military organization known as either a private security firm or a mercenary organization… depending on your political beliefs.  What’s even more striking is the company’s partner in its new maritime endeavor, the United States Maritime Academy’s Global Maritime and Transportation School. In a recent press release they write:

Blackwater today unveiled its plans to create a new subsidiary; Blackwater Maritime Security Solutions.

Blackwater Maritime Security Solutions (BMSS), in a strategic partnership with the Global Maritime and Transportation School (GMATS) at the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy, and other professional maritime organizations and industry leaders will focus on providing world-class tactical maritime security training, professional maritime security services, and cutting-edge maritime security vulnerability assessments and plans in accordance with the International Maritime Organization (IMO)-mandated International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code.

BMSS will also provide international anti and counter-piracy, and anti and counter-terrorism security programs led by the world’s finest maritime special operations and security professionals.

BMSS will soon offer its complete tactical maritime security training services aboard fully operational maritime platforms. This capability allows BMSS to conduct real-world tactical training for maritime force protection units while underway, at anchor, or in port.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) is requesting comments relating to the importance of accurate and timely marine weather analyses to shipboard operations. Staffers at the center are especially interested in how this information is used to avoid damage, injury or loss of life. Equally important are comments associated with the use of this information to enhance vessel efficiencies (timely ETAs, reduced fuel consumption, etc.). It would also be helpful if comments include how the situation today has improved in these areas, as compared with a decade ago (1990s).

All comments should be submitted to David Feit, Chief of the Ocean Forecast Branch, via e-mail at David.Feit@noaa.gov. Comments may also be mailed to David Feit, Ocean Prediction Center; National Weather Service; 5200 Auth Road, Room 410; Camp Springs, MD 20746

Bitterend brings us the anniversary of AMVER:

Originally known as the Atlantic Merchant Vessel Emergency Reporting (AMVER) System, it became operational on July 18, 1958. Amver began as an experiment, confined to waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, notorious for icebergs, fog and winter storms. Vice Admiral Alfred C. Richmond, Coast Guard Commandant at the time, called on all commercial vessels of U.S. and foreign registry, over 1,000 gross tons and making a voyage of more than 24 hours, to voluntarily become Amver participants. The basic premise of Amver, as a vehicle for mariner to help mariner without regard to nationality, continues to this day. Continue Reading…

Physics World points us to an article from the most respected journal in science; Nature. They tell us;

Every so often mariners report the sighting of a huge wave towering up to 30 m above the regular swells of the ocean surface. No-one is sure why these rogue waves form, but now physicists in the US and Germany have managed to produce equivalent optical rogue waves by launching laser pulses into photonic-crystal fibres. Having performed computer simulations of the optical system, the researchers suggest that optical rogue waves, and therefore oceanic rogue waves, are seeded by noise.

A photonic-crystal fibre is a transparent strand containing hundreds of regularly-spaced air holes running throughout its length. The alternating refractive index produced by this structure has a non-linear effect on light waves, shifting their frequency depending on the wave intensity.

When a wave pulse — which comprises many waves with a bell-shaped distribution of frequencies — enters a photonic crystal fibre, its frequency spectrum is broadened. Rogue waves are examples of wave pulses, but their short, sharp nature requires too broad a frequency spectrum to be produced by this process alone.

Ok this isn’t the easiest article to read but is well worth the effort. You can find the entire article HERE.