Flavor Of Hurricanes - Yeah, Buoooy!

NOAA is deploying eight new weather buoys in the paths of hurricanes this season, something that meteorologists are very excited about. The map from the the NOAA Press Release, shown below, is a bit confusing -- it shows 16 buoys though they talked about 2 plus 6 more = 8 buoys in the press release. I believe the remaining 6 are the yellow dots, and the other 10 have already been deployed, including the two most recent, 41043 (above) and 42059 (below) Puerto Rico, which are already transmitting.

One of the most challenging things about hurricanes is getting a feel for what they are really doing over the ocean and there are many holes in the ocean observing network as buoys have been only deployed near the U.S. coast and in the Gulf thus far. These buoys will help fill those data gaps. As the PR says, "These buoys measure wind, wave, barometric pressure, and air and sea temperatures to determine hurricane formation or dissipation, extent of wind circulation, maximum intensity and center location."

(Click here if you don't get the joke - somebody stop me!)