Northern Gulf of Mexico OFS

NGOFS - Subdomains

• Gulfport
• Mobile Bay
• Pascagoula Bay

Time Series

• Katrina Cut, AL
• Cedar Point, AL
• Dauphin Island, AL
• Dauphin Is Hydro, AL
• Mobile Bay Buoy M, AL
• Coast Guard Sector Mobile, AL
• Mobile Container Terminal, AL
• Fort Morgan, AL
• Middle Bay Light, AL
• Meaher Park, AL
• Bon Secour, AL

Map Animations

Water Level

• Nowcast
• Forecast Guidance

• Nowcast
• Forecast Guidance

• Nowcast
• Forecast Guidance

• Nowcast
• Forecast Guidance

• Nowcast
• Forecast Guidance

NGOFS Model Graphics Archive

Model NetCDF archives:
CO-OPS OPeNDAP server
THREDDS Data Server

Model Status

Download OFS Grid and Datum Files

Model Publications

Return to Operational Forecast System

Mobile Bay PORTS^®

Northern Gulf of Mexico Operational Forecast System - Mobile Bay

(Please click on the map pins below to access the time series plots)

Water Level	Wind	Water Temperature	Salinity	Currents
(Please click on the categories below to access animated map plots)
Nowcast	Nowcast	Nowcast	Nowcast	Nowcast
Forecast Guidance	Forecast Guidance	Forecast Guidance	Forecast Guidance	Forecast Guidance

For decades, mariners in the United States have depended on NOAA's Tide Tables for the best estimate of expected water levels. These tables provide accurate predictions of the astronomical tide (i.e., the change in water level due to the gravitational effects of the moon and sun and the rotation of the Earth); however, they cannot predict water-level changes due to wind, atmospheric pressure, and river flow, which are often significant.

A Northern Gulf of Mexico Operational Forecast System (NGOFS) has been developed to serve the maritime user community. NGOFS was developed in a joint project of the NOAA/National Ocean Service (NOS)/Office of Coast Survey, the NOAA/NOS/Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), the NOAA/National Weather Service (NWS)/National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Central Operations (NCO) and the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth using the Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM). NGOFS generates water level, current, temperature and salinity nowcast and forecast guidance four times per day. Aerial animations of the whole northern Gulf of Mexico as well as time series at particular stations or points of interest are available for 93 locations for the five parameters (water level, currents, temperature, and/or salinity).

NGOFS runs on NOAA's High Performance Computers (HPC) in a new Coastal Ocean Modeling Framework (COMF) developed by CO-OPS. As a result, NGOFS has direct access to National Weather Service operational meteorological products that it needs to run reliably.

NGOFS is based on a three-dimensional, high resolution model, and with the added reliability of running at NOAA's HPC, NGOFS will assist U.S. port authorities and mariners in efficiently navigating the northern Gulf of Mexico without compromising safety.

For more detailed information about NGOFS, please click here.

For more information about FVCOM, please click here.