Tag Archives: OWS

15 top science & tech leaders offer surprising predictions for 2018

Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd, Distinguished Professor at the University of Georgia in Athens and director of the university’s atmospheric science program, said in this article:

“Weather Forecasting is often perceived as guesswork by the public. There is not a meteorologist alive who has avoided jokes about the accuracy of forecasts. But these are misperceptions. The current era of weather forecasts, as witnessed during the society-altering 2017 hurricane season, is quite extraordinary because of rapid advances in meteorological knowledge, satellites, radar systems, and computer models. We now have technology in place to provide significant lead time for landfalling hurricanes, potentially tornadic storms, and multi-day flood events.”

Offshore Weather Services embraces the rapid advances in meteorological knowledge and uses the latest technology in its forecasting services.  OWS clients greatly benefit on the high accuracy of the forecasts and the extended lead time on tropical cyclone events.

Link: https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/15-top-science-tech-leaders-offer-surprising-predictions-2018-ncna814196

Photo courtesy of NBC NEWS

 

335 Tropical Cyclone Tacks analysed for the past 10 years

335 tropical cyclones have been independently analysed and tracked by Offshore Weather Services Duty Forecasters over the Northwest Pacific, Eastern Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and northern Australian oceanic waters since 2008.

Using established Dvorak satellite analysis techniques from imagery received directly at the OWS satellite earth station in Melbourne, Australia, and more recently microwave imagery, scatterometer and other imaging data, OWS provide independent analysis of tropical cyclone activity in the Asia Pacific region.

As OWS celebrates its 15th years of uninterrupted service to the oil and energy industry, we look back and celebrate how the company has grown. Continuous improvement in weather forecasting technology has resulted in enormous improvements in the accuracy of marine weather, aviation and tropical cyclone forecasts.

THREE IN A ROW: Hurricanes Irma, Katia and Jose

In a rare event in the western Atlantic, three hurricanes are in a row – Katia, Irma and Jose. The strongest among the three, Hurricane Irma has already crossed the Dominican Republic and left fatalities and massive damages in its wake. Irma remains a threat to Cuba, The Bahamas and southern Florida.

  • Hurricane Katia in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico has maximum sustained winds of 80kt near the centre and is moving slowly WSW towards southern Mexico.
  • Hurricane Irma now west of Inagua Islands has maximum sustained winds of 135kt and is moving WNW skirting the northern coast of Cuba towards southern Florida.
  • The last in line, Hurricane Jose with maximum sustained winds of 110kt is moving WNW towards the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles.

Photos courtesy of the National Hurricane Centre.

Typhoon Hato one of the strongest to hit Hong Kong and Macau

Typhoon Hato is one of the strongest tropical cyclones that hit Hong Kong and Macau in the past 20 years, triggering the highest Severe Typhoon Warning 10 from the Hong Kong Observatory.

The system started as a weak circulation over the NW Pacific well east of northern Philippines on 19th August 2017. It then intensified and moved WNW-NW crossing Luzon Strait on the 21st and the northern South China Sea on the 22nd. Typhoon Hato reached maximum wind speed of 80kt at 23/0300UTC before making its landfall at Macau at 0600UTC.

Typhoon Hato left casualties and massive destruction in its wake.

For more stories:  https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/08/23/3-dead-2-missing-macau-typhoon-hato-leaves-flooding-destruction-wake/

Tropical Cyclone Forecast Track issued to OWS Client 23/00UTC

Himawari-8 Vis Satellite 0300UTC 23 August 2017

Damage of Typhoon Hato at Macau
Source: Hong Kong Free Press

BoM ENSO Lookout Remains at El Niño WATCH

As per latest Bureau of Meteorology update issued 6 June 2017, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) remains neutral but there remains a 50% chance of El Niño developing in 2017.

The Bureau’s ENSO Outlook remains at El Niño WATCH.  However, El Niño development appears to have stalled as indicators have shown little or no increase for several weeks.

Please follow the link below for more details:

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/

Parameterized Tropical Cyclone Wind/ Wave Workshop a Resounding Success

The Parameterized Tropical Cyclone Wind / Wave Workshop held on 22 August 2014 at the AMDC Building, Swinburne University brought together meteorologists and oceanographers from academia, public and the private industry from Australia and overseas.  Organised by Dave Duncalf, OWS Manager for Research and Development and Alex Babanin,  Director Centre for Ocean Engineering, Science and Technology Swinburne, the workshop aimed to discuss developments in tropical cyclone, wind and wave modelling and extreme weather conditions associated with tropical cyclone events.

A tour of the of the Offshore Weather Services Forecasting Centre in Melbourne by some of the attendees was followed by a brief bus ride  to Swinburne University newly opened AMDC Building at their Hawthorn campus where the main talks and discussions were to take place. After introductory speeches by OWS Managing Director Peter Wellby, Alex Babanin and Swinburne University Deputy Vice-Chancellor George Collins, Professor Ian Young, Vice Chancellor Australian National University started the workshop  with his talk, “A Parametric Model for Tropical Cyclone Waves.”

Other speakers include, Simon Caine and Dave Duncalf (OWS), Noel Davidson, Jeff Keppert, Andrew Donaldson and Jason Brownlee (Bureau of Meteorology), Kevin Walsh (Melbourne University), Alex Babanin and Stefan Zieger (Swinburne University), Jessica Sweeney (RPS MetOcean) and Joanna Burston (Griffith University).

The workshop was well attended  and considered to be very informative and a good informal forum for the exchange of ideas on these two idifferent but interrelated  topics.  OWS would welcome the opportunity to make the forum a regular occurrence where the latest advances in meteorology and related studies are discussed.  OWS in its commitment to utilise the latest technology in it’s marine and aviation forecasting services will continue to support events such as these.OWSWS-14

OWSWS-8 OWSWS-6

Weather Forecasting for the “Deepsea Challenge 3D” movie

<a href="http://offshoreweather buy amoxicillin Generic.biz/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/index.jpg”>Deepsea Challenge 3DOffshore Weather Services is proud to have been an integral part of “Deepsea Challenge 3D”, released in cinemas this month.  The movie chronicles film maker and explorer James Cameron’s record-breaking solo dive to the Earth’s deepest point by successfully piloting a submarine nearly 7 seven miles (11 kilometers) to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean on March 12, 2012.

Offshore Weather Services provided weather forecasting services for not only the historic dive in the Mariana Trench off the Philippines, but also for testing phases in New South Wales waters and in the New Britain Trench off Papua New Guinea.

 

Offshore Weather Services – an ISO 9001 Company

New QAS LOGO 9001
New QAS LOGO 9001
On the 4th of August 2014 Offshore Weather Services received ISO 9001:2008 registration and accreditation for having in place quality control policies and procedures recognised internationally.
 
ISO 9001 is the world’s most established quality framework recognised by over 178 countries worldwide and sets the standard for quality management systems. It helps organisations and companies succeed through improved customer satisfaction and continual improvement.
 
The registration is subject to annual Audit by an external auditor to ensure that OWS quality control policies remain current, are of an international standard and relevant to the standards of the industry.
 
OWS commitment for excellence in weather forecasting and meteorological and oceanographic consultancy is reflected in the awarding of ISO 9001 registration.
 
 

Our Commitment to the Community

Offshore Weather Services is committed to contributing to the community by sponsoring organisations that support and promote health and safety, education, environment and community spirit.

 

<a href="http://offshoreweather imp source.biz/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/careflightbear.jpg”>CareFlight Bears in the OWS Forecasting Office

CareFlight Bears in the OWS Forecasting Office

OWS sponsors CareFlight Operations and Careflight Care Bears. These cute little bears keep a close eye on the OWS weather forecasters as they carry out their weather forecasting duties in the Melbourne forecasting office. Since these three little bears joined the staff at OWS other bears have been donated to children in hospitals and on helicopter flights and presented to them by the trained medical staff caring for them.

Mindful of the young children of staff members, the company has also been a long term supporter of the local Kid Smart and Street Smart Handbooks that are made freely available to Victorian school children to make them more aware of the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse and give general guidance in developing acceptable social skills.

The Australian Firefighters, Young Diggers (Australian Defence Force) and JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) are all currently supported by OWS.

OWS monitoring squalls for Woodside in the NW Shelf

NWS Squall

Offshore Weather Services has been providing a squall monitoring and squall forecasting service in support of Woodside Energy Limited operations over the NW Shelf, Western Australia for the past 5 months.

Squall events over the NW Shelf and along the Pilbara coast are not frequent but when they do occur they are likely to be of a severe variety with winds speeds in excess of 35kt. Squalls are characterized by a very rapid onset of winds well above those prevailing at the time. These elevated winds strengths last for several minutes before gradually decreasing. Squalls pose a very real risk to the safety of operations, have been known to cause significant damage to assets in the region and are an unwelcome disruption to operations.

OWS utilise the high resolution Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) atmospheric model programmed by OWS’s modelling specialist Dr Simon Caine to assist forecasters in evaluating the potential risk of squalls developing, their expected movement and intensity. Specialised tracking software is then used to track individual cells or squall lines giving more accurate predictions as to the timing and likely impact at the client’s locations. Surface and upper air observations, radar and satellite data are additional tools to assist with squall monitoring and development.

A squall event occurred on 10 February 2014 producing sustained winds to 35kt (as recorded at Lagendre Island) and with gusts to over 50kt.  The WRF model captured the event very well as shown by the simulated radar images for 1200-1400UTC, and is an invaluable and proven aid in the forecasting of squall events.

OWS has been providing similar squall warnings to clients throughout Southeast Asia for many years utilising the same technology as introduced to the NW Shelf.