Ocean Prediction Center - History

History

The first attempt as a marine weather program within the United States was initiated in New Orleans, Louisiana by the United States Army Signal Corps. A January 23, 1873 memo directed the New Orleans Signal Observer to transcribe meteorological data from the ship logs of those arriving in port. Marine forecasting responsibility transferred from the United States Navy to the Weather Bureau in 1904, which enabled the receipt of timely observations from ships at sea. The basis for OPC’s mission can be traced back to the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912. In response to that tragedy, an international commission was formed to determine requirements for safer ocean voyages. In 1914, the commission’s work resulted in the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, of which the United States is one of the original signatories.

In 1957, in order to help address marine issues, the United States Weather Bureau started to publish the Mariners Weather Log bi-monthly publication to report past weather conditions primarily over Northern Hemisphere oceans, information regarding the globe's tropical cyclone seasons, to publish monthly climatologies for use of those at sea, and to encourage voluntary ship observations from vessels at sea. From 1957 through 1966, the United States Weather Bureau's Office of Climatology published the Log. From 1966 through the summer of 1995, the Environmental Data Service, which became the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, published the magazine.

Within the United States National Weather Service (NWS), forecast weather maps began to be published by offices in New York City, San Francisco, and Honolulu for public use. North Atlantic forecasts were shifted from a closed United States Navy endeavor to a National Weather Service product suite via radiofacsimile in 1971, while northeast Pacific forecasts became publicly available by the same method in 1972. Between 1986 and 1989, the portion of the National Meteorological Center (NMC) known as the Ocean Products Center (OPC) was responsible for marine weather forecasting guidance within the NWS. Between August 1989 and 1995, the unit named the Marine Forecast Branch also was involved in providing objective analysis and forecast products for marine and oceanographic variables.

When the National Centers for Environmental Prediction was created, the Marine Prediction Center (MPC) was organized to assume the U.S. obligation to issue warnings and forecasts for portions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. MPC was expected to be moved from Camp Springs, Maryland to Monterey, California, but this did not occur. The Center was renamed the Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) on January 12, 2003.