# Marine Conditions MCP for coastal data. AI Agent Connect > Marine Conditions MCP connects your AI agent to the National Weather Service marine program. It provides the same official forecasts and warnings used by harbor masters and coast guard stations. You can check active marine warnings for specific coordinates, get hour by hour wave and wind forecasts, and pull the latest station observations for wind, pressure, and visibility. ## Overview - **Category:** weather-climate - **Price:** Free - **Endpoint:** https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_XqsH6KNF1AgOOYUKRoBOel8qoW4UywLMxKquj4FF/ai-agent-connect - **Tags:** marine, boating, sailing, weather, nws, marine-forecast, wave-forecast, fishing, kayaking, surfing, public-data, united-states, marine-warnings ## Description This MCP gives your AI agent direct access to the National Weather Service marine program. Instead of searching through complex government websites, you can ask your agent for a go/no-go assessment for any specific latitude and longitude. The MCP handles the heavy lifting of resolving a single point to its correct forecast office and checking all active marine zones that cover that area. This ensures you don't miss a Small Craft Advisory or Gale Warning just because your coordinate falls within a specific zone rather than a single point. It also handles unit conversions, turning raw agency data like hectopascals and meters into the knots and kilometers mariners actually use. Whether you need a detailed seven day wave forecast or the most recent wind and pressure readings from a nearby observation station, your agent can pull that data and present it clearly. ## Tools ### get_wave_forecast Provides wave, swell, and wind forecasts for a specific coordinate. It returns significant wave height, period, swell direction, and wind speeds in knots for up to 168 hours. ### list_marine_zones Accesses a catalog of 699 coastal and offshore marine zones. You can filter these zones by name, type, or forecast office. ### check_marine_conditions Performs a go/no-go check for a specific location. It identifies active marine warnings for the area and attaches the relevant wave and swell forecast. ### get_current_conditions Retrieves the most recent weather station observations for a point. This includes measured wind, pressure, visibility, temperature, and humidity. ### get_marine_alerts Fetches official NWS marine warnings and advisories for a specific zone. It includes the full text, severity, and recommended actions for alerts like Gale Warnings or Beach Hazards. ## Prompt Examples **Prompt:** ``` Are there any marine warnings in effect for the Chesapeake, and what are the waves and wind doing? ``` **Response:** ``` I'll check the Chesapeake for active warnings and pull the wave and wind forecast for you. I'll verify the official alerts and the sea state in one go. ``` **Prompt:** ``` I see a Small Craft Advisory was mentioned for the Chesapeake. What exactly does it say, and until when does it run? ``` **Response:** ``` I'll read the full text of that Small Craft Advisory, including its severity, the timing, and the specific actions the agency recommends. ``` **Prompt:** ``` What's the wind actually doing right now near San Diego? The forecast says one thing but I want a measurement. ``` **Response:** ``` I'll pull the latest station observation for San Diego. This gives you the actual measured wind in knots, along with pressure and visibility, rather than just a forecast. ``` ## Capabilities ### Point to Zone Resolution The agent converts a single latitude and longitude into the specific marine zones and forecast offices that govern that water. ### Unit Conversion Raw NWS data is automatically converted into knots, hectopascals, and kilometers for easier reading. ### Temporal Data Expansion The agent aligns different time axes for wind and wave data into a single, coherent hourly timeline. ### Real-time Observations Your agent can distinguish between forecasted trends and actual measured data from local weather stations. ## Use Cases ### Pre-departure Safety Check Ask your agent to run a go/no-go check for your specific departure point to see if any Small Craft Advisories are active. ### Route Planning Use the wave forecast to see how significant wave height and swell periods will change over the next few days. ### Real-time Monitoring Compare the current forecast against actual station observations to see if conditions are changing faster than predicted. ### Zone Identification Find the specific NWS marine zone ID for a stretch of coastline to look up detailed advisories. ## Benefits - Resolves specific coordinates to official marine warning zones automatically. - Converts metric agency data into standard maritime units like knots. - Provides a single answer for both warnings and sea state forecasts. - Distinguishes between null marine layers and actual flat water forecasts. ## How It Works Connect your client to Vinkius to access the NWS data through your agent. 1. Connect your MCP-compatible client to Vinkius. 2. Provide a latitude and longitude to your agent. 3. The agent uses the MCP to resolve the point to a forecast office and marine zone. 4. The agent pulls warnings, wave forecasts, or station observations. 5. The agent presents the data in standard maritime units. ## Frequently Asked Questions **Why do the alerts come back for zones I did not ask about?** Marine warnings are issued against zones, and zones lie over water, so a latitude and longitude cannot be looked up in the alert list directly. check_marine_conditions resolves your point to its forecast office and then checks every zone that office warns — that is the join the agency's own workflow uses, and the response names which zones were checked. When you want the warning text for one specific zone, use get_marine_alerts with its id. **What does a wave height of null mean, and what does zero mean?** They are different things and the response keeps them distinct. Null means the grid cell carries no marine layer at all — the point is inland, or in a sheltered cell the agency does not forecast swell for — and the response says so rather than presenting a false calm. Zero is a genuine forecast value: the agency modelled that cell and expects flat water there, which happens in bays and behind headlands. Wind is reported either way, because the wind forecast covers inland cells too. **Can I trust this enough to decide whether to go out?** As the official picture, not as a guarantee. This is the same warning layer a coast-guard station reads, and an answer of zero alerts means no official warning is in effect at that moment — not that the water is safe. Waves and wind are reported alongside the warnings for that reason, and a Small Craft Advisory can be issued an hour after this answer is given. Re-check close to departure, and read the alert's recommended-action text before deciding. **Why is the wind in knots when the forecast says kilometres per hour?** Because knots is the unit boating is done in, and the server converts before answering rather than making you convert. The agency sends wind in kilometres per hour on both the forecast and the observation endpoints, pressure in pascals and visibility in metres; each is turned into knots, hectopascals and kilometres so every reading arrives in the unit a mariner expects. Wave height stays in metres and wave period in seconds, which is how the marine forecast is published. **Do I need an API key or an account?** No. The National Weather Service publishes this data openly, and the server reads it without authentication. There is no key to obtain, no quota to manage and no sign-up step.