Dogs,
Astoria's KMUN has a Ship Report each weekday and the hostess, Joanne Rideout, recently interviewed Robert Johnson, a CR Bar pilot, about weather buoy 46029, which is called the CR Bar weather buoy and which can be checked over the internet at
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=46029
Captain Johnson offered the following advice about consulting #46029:
1. While called the CR Bar weather buoy, the buoy is in the open sea and its readings do not indicate bar conditions.
2. The report available over the Web provides 8 minute averages. Thus, while swells may average 6 feet over 8 minutes, there still could/will be much larger swells.
3. As weather gets worse, measures of wind under-estimate actual conditions. The reason is that when the buoy is in a deep trough, it is sheltered from the wind. The averaging process blends sheltered time with time when the buoy is on the crest, thus under-estimating actual conditions. Captain Johnson indicated that he's been at sea in 60 knot winds when 46029 was showing a 20 knot average.
4. To make best use of 46029, remember also that the buoy is about 20 nautical miles offshore in 420 feet of water. When approaching shore, the sea is shallower, which amplifies wave height, and the influence of the Columbia River becomes more significant as well.
* * *
In some threads from three years ago, some of this thinking emerged from Dogs counseling me about bar crossings. Three years and 60 crossings later, Captain Johnson's account summarizes the use of 46029 neatly.
Kind regards,
David King
PhoebusGroup
Bar Pilot Comments on CR Bar Weather Buoy
Linear Mode
