Wind Instrumentation on Weather Buoys Fail

By Tony Mignone

On January 17th, 2004 the anemometer and wind direction indicator on the Jonesport Buoy, located 20 miles south of Jonesport, failed. A short time later, on February 4th, the wind equipment located on Mount Desert Rock also failed.

Jonesport Buoy

Reason for the failure has still not been determined, however extremely cold weather combined with strong winds and icing conditions may have been a factor. A repair date has not been set for repairing the weather buoys. The National Data Buoy Center said that several other buoys were on the repair list ahead of the Jonesport Buoy and the Mount Desert Rock C-Man Station. Unfavorable weather conditions can also hamper repair work on the buoys.

The data from both weather reporting stations is used by the Caribou Forecast Office to aid in the preparation of marine forecasts and for forecast verification. The only other permanent source of weather data on the Down East coastal waters is a GoMOOS Buoy located adjacent to Mount Desert Rock.