By Diane Selkirk — Mar 29, 2019
Contributors: Joan Conover (SSCA)

Temporary GPS outages for some C-MAN stations projected to occur on or after April 6, 2019

Published 5 years ago

As 0000 UTC Saturday, April 6, 2019 approaches, a new GPS software issue is expected to cause issues for the maritime public (see: Upcoming GPS Week Number Rollover: Problems for Older GPS Units).

The National Weather Service Headquarters in Silver Spring, MD has identified 20 Coastal and Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) stations which are expected to stop transmitting all data. The stations collect and report weather data; usually including atmospheric pressure, wind direction, speed and gust, and air temperature, as well as sea surface temperature, water level, waves, relative humidity, precipitation and visibility.

The National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) has been making the necessary software updates, but stations from Alaska to Florida will be affected. The complete system is not expected to be fully updated and functional until the end of November 2019.

As well, it’s estimated 23 older Weather Buoy stations will be affected by the problem in July 2019. In this case the data is expected to transmit, but timestamps may be incorrect. A list of impacted C-MAN stations is as follows:

AMAA2- East Amatuli Island Light, AK (Cook Inlet)

AUGA2- Augustine Island, AK (Cook Inlet)

BURL1- SW Pass, LA

BUZM3- Buzzards Bay, MA

DBLN6- Dunkirk, NY (Lake Erie)

DESW1- Destruction Island, WA

DRFA2- Drift River Terminal, AK (Cook Inlet)

FILA2- Flat Island Light, AK (Cook Inlet)

FWYF1- Fowey Rock, FL (off Miami)

LONF1- Long Key, FL

MDRM1- Mt. Desert Rock, ME

MISM1- Matinicus Rock, ME

MLRF1- Molasses Reef, FL

PILA2- Pilot Rock, AK (outside Cook Inlet)

PILM4- Passage Island, MI (Lake Superior)

PLSF1- Pulaski Shoals Light, FL

PTGC1- Point Arguello, CA

ROAM4- Rock of Ages, Michigan

SBIO1- South Bass Island, OH (Lake Erie)

SGOF1- Tyndall AFB Tower, FL

Please monitor NDBC’s website and individual station pages for status updates to the respective stations at: https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

For more information: https://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/GPSRolloverEffects.pdf