Marine Observations[ Fleet 21 Home Page ]
Marine Observations
[ Fleet 21 Home Page ]
45007 - S MICHIGAN 43NM East Southeast of Milwaukee, WI
Station 45007 is owned and maintained by National Data Buoy Center
3-meter discus buoy
DACT payload
42.67 N 87.02 W (42°40'12"N 87°01'12"W)
Site elevation: 177.0 m above mean sea level
Air temp height: 4 m above site elevation
Anemometer height: 5 m above site elevation
Barometer elevation: 177.0 m above mean sea level
Sea temp depth: 0.6 m below site elevation
Water depth: 164.6 m
Watch circle radius: 245 yards
(Click on the picture)
Current Lake
Michigan Conditions
NWS Forecast
for Lake Michigan
NWS Great Lakes
Forecasts
LAKE MICHIGAN
[ NWS marine ZONE forecast areas - within 5 nautical miles of
shore ]
How to "Dial-a-Buoy"
National Data Bouy Center
Location and information about buoys
on the Great Lakes.
Location and information about Buoys
Worldwide.
Information on how to "Dial a Buoy" from your touch-tone phone or cell phone.
reprinted from the National Data Buoy Center
What is Dial-A-Buoy?
Mariners can now hear the latest coastal and offshore weather observations through a new
telephone service called Dial-A-Buoy. Dial-A-Buoy provides wind and wave measurements
taken within the last hour at 65 buoy and 54 Coastal-Marine Automated Network (C-MAN)
stations. The stations are located in the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and the Great
Lakes and are operated by the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC). NDBC, a part of the
National Weather Service (NWS), created Dial-A-Buoy to give mariners an easy way to obtain
the reports via a cell phone.
Large numbers of boaters use the observations, in combination with forecasts, to make
decisions on whether it is safe to venture out. Some even claim that the reports have
saved lives. Surfers use the reports to see if wave conditions are, or will soon be,
promising. Many of these boaters and surfers live well inland, and knowing the conditions
has saved them many wasted trips to the coast. An increasingly popular way to obtain the
observations has been through the Internet. In fact, NDBC's web site has received more
than a million hits a month. "Dial-A-Buoy is a logical extension to the
Internet," states NDBC's David Gilhousen. "It will allow the mariner a way to
get the conditions while offshore, at the marina, or away from the Internet."
Buoy reports include wind direction, speed, gust, significant wave height, swell and
wind-wave heights and periods, air temperature, water temperature, and sea level pressure.
Some buoys report wave directions. All C-MAN stations report the winds, air temperature,
and pressure; some also report wave information, water temperature, visibility, and dew
point.
How do I use Dial-A-Buoy?
To access Dial-A-Buoy, dial (228) 688-1948 using any touch tone or cell phone. Assuming
you know the identifier of the station whose report you need, enter 1. Then, enter the
five-digit (or character) station identifier, followed by the # sign, in response to the
prompt. The system will ask you to confirm that your entry was correct by pressing 1.
After a few seconds, you will hear the latest buoy or C-MAN observation read via
computer-generated voice. Characters are entered simply by pressing the key containing the
character. For Q, press "7", and for Z, presses "9". Please be patient
and wait for the system to finish prompting you; Dial-A-Buoy will not understand your
entry if you are too fast. Dial-A-Buoy also can read the latest NWS marine forecast for
most station locations. If this option is available, the system will prompt you to press
the # key after the observation is read. Wait to hear the tone at the end of the prompt
before pressingthe # key. When you are finished with Dial-A-Buoy, simply hang-up!
There are several ways to find the station locations and identifiers. For Internet users,
maps showing buoy locations are given at http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/.
Telephone users have several options. They can enter a fax. number to receive a location
map by following the prompts. Or, they can enter a latitude and longitude and receive the
closest station locationsand identifiers.
How Does Dial-A-Buoy Work?
The Dial-A-Buoy system does not actually dial into a buoy or C-MAN station. The phone
calls are answered by a computer at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where NDBC is
located. The computer runs Web-on-Call software to control the dialog and read the
forecasts and observations from NDBC's web site. Web-on-Call, a commercial product from
General Magic Corporation of Sunnyvale, California, controls the reading of Web pages over
thephone. Dial-A-Buoy is a proof-of-concept system that seeks involvement from the private
sector. The eight-line system could be expanded through sponsorship by a private
corporation such as a boating or meteorological organization. Alternatively, these
organizations could offer a similar service at another location. This could easily be
accomplished by running Web-on-Call software that would obtain the observations from
NDBC's web site.
What are some problems with Dial-A-Buoy?
I entered a station identifier, but heard a response "Sorry, I did not recognize
that selection." You entered the station identifier too soon. Wait until the
system finishes asking you for the identifier.How do I enter characters for a Station
Identifier? Characters are entered simply by pressing the key containing the character.
For Q, press "7", and for Z, presses "9". For example, to enter CHLV2,
press the keys 24582 followed by the #sign. I entered a valid station identifier, but
heard a response saying that the topic was unavailable after about 6 second delay.
Occasionally, the Internet gets very busy here at Stennis Space Center. The Web-On-Call
software, which runs Dial-A-Buoy, has been programmed to give this response if it cannot
obtain our web page to read in about 5 seconds. So, unfortunately, the answer is: Try
again later.
I pressed the pound sign to get a marine forecast but heard the response, "Sorry
I did not recognize that selection." You entered the pound sign too early. Wait
until you hear a tone to press the pound sign.How do I quit Dial-A-Buoy? Simply hang-up.
How do I hear the observations for another station? When you are finished hearing the
observations or forecasts, the system will begin a long prompt saying, "To listen to
this topic again, press 1......" If you press 6 at this point, Dial-A-Buoy will
take you back to the beginning of the dialog.