Office of External Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard

Date: June 30, 2006

Contact: Ensign Lindsey LeFebvre
(251) 441-6277

COAST GUARD CUTTER CYPRESS RETURNS FROM DEPLOYMENT

MOBILE, Ala. - On June 30, 2006 the Coast Guard Cutter Cypress, a 225' Seagoing Buoy Tender, returned to her homeport of Mobile, Ala., after a five-day trip into the Gulf of Mexico. This day marked the end of Cypress' endeavor to better prepare the Gulf Coast for the 2006 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Cypress has spent much of this spring traveling to the furthest reaches of the Gulf of Mexico servicing and positioning weather buoys for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

After the devastating 2004 and 2005 Hurricane Seasons, it is more apparent than ever that early detection and accurate predictions are paramount when it comes to forecasting hurricanes. As the leading government agency in weather prediction, NOAA recognizes this need and has strategically placed weather buoys throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Bay of Campeche and its surrounding seas. These buoys serve as local weather stations to collect and transmit on-scene conditions such as wave height, pressure, wind speed and direction as active storm cells move towards the coastline. This information is vital to forecasters' ability to accurately predict storm path and intensity. In addition, mariners can utilize the Internet to access the information these buoys transmit, in order to get up-to-date weather and sea conditions to better plan their Gulf transits. Unfortunately, the buoys' location also means that they take quite a beating each year as they pass through the worst parts of the storms. This is where the Coast Guard Cutter Cypress plays a vital role.

Working with technicians from NOAA over the past six months, Cypress has individually serviced the vast majority of the NOAA weather buoys in the Gulf of Mexico, Bay of Campeche and the Western Caribbean Sea. The smallest of these buoys, which are usually located 10 to 100 miles offshore, is three meters in diameter and can be lifted onto Cypress' buoy deck using her crane. To service NOAA's largest buoys, which are located 150 to 300 miles offshore and are 12 meters in diameter and weigh over 200,000 pounds, Cypress must launch a small boat so the technicians can actually climb aboard the buoy to conduct necessary maintenance. A typical buoy servicing evolution involves checking all of the onboard weather equipment and sensors, replacing any damaged equipment and then conducting tests to ensure that all the equipment is transmitting both timely and accurate information. In all, this process can take up to 12 hours for each buoy. While the work is tedious, it is absolutely necessary to ensure that weather forecasters have the information that they need and that the buoy's location is the same as its assigned position for storm track predictions. Over the past two years, Cypress has towed many of the larger buoys back to their assigned positions after a storm dragged them off station or damaged them severely.

Weather forecasters are predicting that 2006 will be an extremely active storm season. Considering the effects of last season's hurricanes, it is more important than ever that extra precautions are taken to give Gulf Coast residents advanced warnings of approaching storms. The Mobile based Coast Guard Cutter Cypress' joint partnership with NOAA is a commitment to ensure that the Gulf Coast and the rest of the United States are well prepared to handle the best and worst of what Mother Nature has to offer.

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For images, please contact Ensign Lindsey LeFebvre at (251) 441-6277.