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At the beginning of
2007, Thunder Horse will become the newest SAWRS
(Supplemental Aviation Weather Reporting Station) in the Gulf of
Mexico, bringing the number of SAWRS to seven offshore sites.
Thunder Horse is a moored semi‑submersible oil platform, the
largest in the world, located in 6,300 ft of deep water about
150 miles southeast of New Orleans.
Construction costs were
around one billion dollars. The facility is expected to operate
for 25 years, producing about one billion barrels of oil. At its
peak, it is expected to process 200,000 million cubic feet of
natural gas and 250,000 barrels of oil per day. The Thunder
Horse platform is owned by BP (75%) and ExxonMobil (25%), and
operated by BP.
Observations from Thunder Horse will supply helicopters and
ocean vessels with present weather conditions in the deep waters
of the gulf, and aid in the production and verification of
offshore marine forecasts. |
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Thunder Horse semi-submersible oil
platform
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Co-Op
Notes
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The Data Acquisition Team (Hydrometeorological Technicians
Jimmy Nunn and Todd Mogged) were very busy maintaining the
COOP Program in 2006. All required site visitations were
completed, while new MMTS units were installed at the COOP
sites located in Grand Chenier, St. Martinville, New Iberia,
Rosepine, and Lumberton.
WFO Lake Charles is currently searching for cooperative
observers to replace the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge
COOP site, which was destroyed by Hurricane Rita. In
addition, the COOP program is looking for observers for a
new COOP site to be located in Vinton, Louisiana. |
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www.nws.noaa.gov 
