South Haven Weather Buoy 2023

The 2023 South Haven Weather Buoy project is supported ENTIRELY by contributions from local government, businesses, organizations, and individual boaters (like you!). The buoy provides South Haven boaters with FREE access to wave height, wind speed, water temperature, and webcam images from April through October.  Observations from the buoy were requested over 510,000 times in 2022! That's almost once every 30 seconds for six months straight.  This buoy is one of the most popular in the entire Great Lakes and it needs YOUR support NOW!

The buoy was originally paid for by a grant from NOAA in 2014, but local funds are needed to keep it running year after year. LimnoTech, based in Ann Arbor, is responsible for maintaining the buoy. They provide all of the technical skills and know how to keep the buoy operational. LimnoTech maintains buoys across the Great Lakes in Cleveland, Toledo, and several others on Lake Michigan.  

Donations to this campaign will go directly to the South Haven Steelheaders Sport Fishing Association (EIN 82-3922278), a 501(c)(3)  charitable organization. The fishing club has been an integral part to bringing the buoy to South Haven in 2014 and works closely with others in the region to keep it here. Please join them in supporting this campaign.  The club will disperse funds as needed to keep the buoy running with input from LimnoTech. This includes paying for the replacement of damaged sensors, cellular data plans, engineering support to check the buoy over in the off season, and labor to deploy/retrieve the buoy every year.  Funds raised through GoFundMe will compliment funds from other supporters of the buoy. Your individual contributions are crucial to meeting our goal for the year. If we fall short then we risk not being able to deploy the buoy.

In 2018, LimnoTech upgraded the buoycam so it can be shown more often on WOODTV, the wave sensor to provide higher accuracy measurements, and the modem to 4G as 2G/3G are being faded out by Verizon.  

PLEASE consider how much you personally rely on data from the buoy during the season. Even if you don't use it that much, know that folks from the National Weather Service, US Coast Guard, Van Buren County Sheriff use data from buoy daily during the boating season. The buoy is critical during search and rescue operations AND for forecasting Lake Michigan squalls and dangerous rip currents.

Contribute NOW to ensure the buoy comes back in 2023.  If you have questions about this fundraising project please contact the South Haven Steelheaders at [email redacted]

How to get data from the buoy:

1. https://limno.io/station/45168/

2. Text 45168 to [phone redacted] 

3. Dial [phone redacted] enter 45168 as station ID