NOAA restores its 72 and 96 hour offshore surface forecast charts
The US National Weather Service resumes its three and four day surface forecast charts on 30 September 2026. They had been suspended since 1 June, right through the hurricane season.
Technology NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH
The National Weather Service, the weather agency of the United States within NOAA, resumes the 72 and 96 hour surface forecast graphics of its Ocean and Tsunami Center, formerly the Ocean Prediction Center, on Wednesday 30 September 2026. The agency announced the step on 31 August 2026 in Public Information Statement 26-61. The charts for the Atlantic, the Pacific and Alaska had been suspended since 1 June 2026.
The charts show how forecasters expect lows, highs and fronts to develop and move three and four days ahead. For offshore cruisers they are a passage planning and heavy weather avoidance tool, and a simple graphic is easy to pull down over a slow satellite link. The Seven Seas Cruising Association, a cruising sailors' organisation, says it contacted the agency repeatedly during the suspension; noonsite reported on this on 25 September 2026.
The weather service had put the suspension down to higher short term priorities and to development work on its marine weather services. It does not say whether the sailors' representations played any part in the return. Six graphics come back: a 72 hour and a 96 hour chart each for the Atlantic, the Pacific and Alaska.
The timing matters because autumn crossings are being prepared now. Anyone leaving on a passage in the coming weeks again has an official view beyond three days. Alongside the charts, the gridded forecasts for wind, gusts and wave height from the National Digital Forecast Database remain available.
What this means for owners
After a loss on an ocean passage, one of the first questions is usually whether the weather was foreseeable when the boat left port. Skippers who study the forecasts before departure and along the way, and note that in the logbook, can show it later. This concerns mainly sailing yachts and catamarans crossing the Atlantic, and motor yachts and trawlers on delivery trips. A fair question for your insurer before a crossing is which records they would expect to see if something went wrong.
This paragraph is our view as an underwriting agency, not part of the news. What your own policy covers is written in your own terms; when in doubt, call us.
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