BlueSeas

Dial-A-Buoy

Current Marine Weather Observations

Dial-A-Buoy provides the mariner with an easy to use system to receive current weather information in a specific area. The system is accessed through a toll free phone number allowing the mariner to gather up to date weather information any time and anywhere they can make a phone call.

The great thing about this system is that the weather observations received are not forecasts, but actual current conditions taken within the last hour with many offering reporting frequencies of 10 minutes.

Dial-A-Buoy is comprised of coastal stations, near shore, and offshore buoys. It is operated by the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), a part of NOAA along with the assistance of many colleges and universities.

While not all stations or buoys provide the same type of weather information, coastal stations generally report winds, air temperature, and pressure; some also report visibility, and dew points. Buoy reports generally include wind directions and speeds, wind gusts, significant wave heights, swell, wind-wave heights and periods, air temperature, water temperature, and sea level pressure.

How to use the Dial-A-Buoy System

To access Dial-A-Buoy, dial 888-701-8992 (Toll Free) using a touch tone or cell phone. Presuming you know the identifier of the station whose report you need, simply follow the prompts. Enter the five-digit (or character) station identifier. Now here is the only tricky part; while buoy station identifiers are typically made up of numbers, coastal stations contain both numbers and letters. To enter a letter into the Dial-A-Buoy system simply use the number key that contains the letter. If you wanted to enter a 'A', 'B', or 'C' you would press the '2' on your phone. Similarly if you were to enter 'W', 'X', 'Y', or 'Z' you would press the '9' key.

Once you are comfortable with the system, you do not have to wait for the prompts. For example, if you were looking to get a report for the buoy located 120 NM East of Cape Canaveral, FL Station ID #41010 - you would simply enter "141010" as soon as you’re connected. You would then hear the current report for that station. When you are finished simply hang up.

The Station List

The station list below shows the coast stations and buoys along the coasts of the United States. We have broken them down by geographic area to assist in locating the stations of importance to you. We have also converted the mixed character and number station id’s to their numeric equivalent to aid in dialing in the correct number.

We have started in the north with the Great Lakes, continued down the U.S. East Coast, over to Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean,then west across the Gulf Coast. Then out to the West Coast, and finally Hawaii, including the Pacific Territories and Trusts. We will be adding to the tables as time permits, so check back often until we have the project completed.

While not every station has been included, the list is comprehensive enough to provide very good coverage. If any errors are noted or if you would like to see a particular station included that we have left out, please e-mail us at with any corrections or recommendations.

Dial-A-Buoy Downloads

We have included the buoy and station lists in each section so they can be downloaded for your personal use. The ZIP files contain the schedule in Adobe (.pdf) file format.


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