NOAA is launching a new tool to forecast water level measurements up to three days into the future in the Salish Sea and Columbia River. The Salish Sea and Columbia River Operational Forecast System (SSCOFS) uses an advanced computer model and replaces the existing Columbia River and Estuary Operational Forecast System. The new forecast system also expands geographic coverage beyond the existing model, offering comprehensive guidance to users in the Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, the Strait of Georgia, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Columbia River up to Bonneville Dam.

The tool’s forecasts are designed to help mariners better understand the present and future state of water levels, currents, and other oceanographic variables — like temperature and salinity — in a coastal area. The predictions are used to support safe and efficient marine navigation, hazardous spill response, search and rescue operations, and marine resource management.

This new tool was developed in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems, and with contributions from partners in the modeling community. As such, the SSCOFS, which uses recent and real-time data to issue nowcasts and short-term forecasts, is the first Operational Forecast System to be developed by an external partner and implemented into operations by NOAA.

This new forecast tool is critical to coastal communities and users because it provides timely, authoritative information on changing meteorological and ocean conditions.