How it Works

What does a NOAA weather buoy 3000 miles away in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean have to do with snow in Utah, Colorado & Wyoming? Good question! Since the dawn of time, humans have been trying to plan their powder days, a futile feat… until now. Is it magic? Is it science? Is it dumb luck? The answer may be yes to all of the above, but more than anything, the Powderbuoy is all about a positive vibration and energy that connects soul riders around the world.

““Yeahbuuuuooooyyyyyy””

- William Jonathan Drayton Jr.

It All Starts With the Buoy

Deep in the North Pacific, a lonely NOAA buoy floats, diligently collecting all sorts of weather data. No friends on a powder day? This lonely buoy may think its only friends are the passing birds who may stop by for a few; little does the buoy know how much happiness and joy it brings to people around the world on powder days.

Weather Prediction

Tracking buoys is nothing new; surfers have followed buoys since Gary Busey was dropping in on Big Wednesday to find out when swells are going to hit specific breaks. The Powderbuoy uses these same NOAA buoys in Hawaii and tracks the same energy that surfers ride in waves in Hawaii to forecast snow that we ride in our mountains. When the buoy pops, two weeks later you’re going to want to clear your calendar.

Plan Your Powder Flu

Don’t let those sick days go to waste, plan your flu and go get you some! That TPS report can wait for another day, you’ve got powder to ski. Yeahbuoy!

Go to the Buoy Dashboard

From the Blog

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From Instagram

There we go, a little hope on the horizon, a couple of little mini bumps and then a pop make me think that we could start seeing a little bit of snow starting around the 22nd with some more follow through into the 24th then 26th. As much as February was an overachiever March has been kind of okayish. Don’t count this season out just yet, I had my best day of the year on April 5th last year so there’s always a chance. It looks like a little Cottonwood crossed over the 500 inch mark on this last storm, I bet no one thought that was happening the way the season started out so slowly. #yeahbuoy

There we go, a little hope on the horizon, a couple of little mini bumps and then a pop make me think that we could start seeing a little bit of snow starting around the 22nd with some more follow through into the 24th then 26th. As much as February was an overachiever March has been kind of okayish. Don’t count this season out just yet, I had my best day of the year on April 5th last year so there’s always a chance. It looks like a little Cottonwood crossed over the 500 inch mark on this last storm, I bet no one thought that was happening the way the season started out so slowly. #yeahbuoy ...

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Was off by a few days but next storm lined up for weds, lots of variability still, looks a little more put together up north. Small buoy pop yesterday puts the 22nd on the radar and looks like there may be some more buoy popping action later this week. Match came in like a lion last week but as of now isn’t looking nearly as exciting as Feb was. Spent the last week in warmer climates chasing permit salt water fly fishing, finally caught my first, so I’ve got that going for me… which is nice. #yeahbuoy #springforward

Was off by a few days but next storm lined up for weds, lots of variability still, looks a little more put together up north. Small buoy pop yesterday puts the 22nd on the radar and looks like there may be some more buoy popping action later this week. Match came in like a lion last week but as of now isn’t looking nearly as exciting as Feb was. Spent the last week in warmer climates chasing permit salt water fly fishing, finally caught my first, so I’ve got that going for me… which is nice. #yeahbuoy #springforward ...

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Storm inbound, 18-24 up high, a little warm before the storm right now. Looks like the next storm coming in with the beginning of March, looks like it’s a little more put together and stronger in Jackson. There was a small buoy pop yesterday which puts the eighth or ninth on the calendar for some snow. This kinda looks like the last pop until about the second or third of March, that means we probably mellow out on the storm front after the ninth for a week or so, we shall see. #lyeahbuoy

Storm inbound, 18-24 up high, a little warm before the storm right now. Looks like the next storm coming in with the beginning of March, looks like it’s a little more put together and stronger in Jackson. There was a small buoy pop yesterday which puts the eighth or ninth on the calendar for some snow. This kinda looks like the last pop until about the second or third of March, that means we probably mellow out on the storm front after the ninth for a week or so, we shall see. #lyeahbuoy ...

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Lining up nicely for the end of the month, Feb has been outperforming, first few days of march are looking good but the buoy is looking flat until a little pop on the 24th and then flat again until the end of the month. #yeahbuoy

Lining up nicely for the end of the month, Feb has been outperforming, first few days of march are looking good but the buoy is looking flat until a little pop on the 24th and then flat again until the end of the month. #yeahbuoy ...

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This is the 30ft buoypop I previewed about a week ago on the experimental future buoy forecast map.. biggest pop of the year, should last a few days. Sometimes giant pops don’t mean huge storms, but I have notices that longer pops lead to multi-day storms, so that’s fun. Still vibing from yesterday, so good! #yeahbuoy

This is the 30ft buoypop I previewed about a week ago on the experimental future buoy forecast map.. biggest pop of the year, should last a few days. Sometimes giant pops don’t mean huge storms, but I have notices that longer pops lead to multi-day storms, so that’s fun. Still vibing from yesterday, so good! #yeahbuoy ...

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Pretty insane day with an all time crew of friends on a pow day at @pccats. This is @ruzek_becker getting fully exploderized this afternoon. 10/10 day, massive buoypop still in action, up to 30ft, snow still in line for the 18th, multi day starting the 20th, and whatever I said yesterday #yeahbuoy

Pretty insane day with an all time crew of friends on a pow day at @pccats. This is @ruzek_becker getting fully exploderized this afternoon. 10/10 day, massive buoypop still in action, up to 30ft, snow still in line for the 18th, multi day starting the 20th, and whatever I said yesterday #yeahbuoy ...

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Pop! This fella is going to hang around for a few days, unfortunately my guess was that the gut of this pop was a little too north for them to do the Eddie Aikau in Hawaii (big wave surf event). Full recap: snow today into tomorrow, Sunday into Monday, next Thursday probably into the weekend, and now the following Tuesday/wednesday lasting into March 1st. In like a lion in Zion. #yeahbuoy

Pop! This fella is going to hang around for a few days, unfortunately my guess was that the gut of this pop was a little too north for them to do the Eddie Aikau in Hawaii (big wave surf event). Full recap: snow today into tomorrow, Sunday into Monday, next Thursday probably into the weekend, and now the following Tuesday/wednesday lasting into March 1st. In like a lion in Zion. #yeahbuoy ...

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First off, happy Valentine’s Day to all, especially to my valentine @erinruzek, ♥️ you. This morning was a pleasant treat when I saw 3” on the ground (and more on the way today-fri). On 1/31 booked a cat with @pccats ( thank you @skiutah super stoked raffle) based on the last storm and this one that popped the buoy. Last weekend I started looking at typical weather sites and all showed high and dry for Utah all week, I got challenged to a battle of wits, and even doubted and debated bumping my cat day, but kept the faith. Fired up! #yeahbuoy

First off, happy Valentine’s Day to all, especially to my valentine @erinruzek, ♥️ you. This morning was a pleasant treat when I saw 3” on the ground (and more on the way today-fri). On 1/31 booked a cat with @pccats ( thank you @skiutah super stoked raffle) based on the last storm and this one that popped the buoy. Last weekend I started looking at typical weather sites and all showed high and dry for Utah all week, I got challenged to a battle of wits, and even doubted and debated bumping my cat day, but kept the faith. Fired up! #yeahbuoy ...

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Sun day fun day. Buoy popped yesterday and there’s a lot of buoy action coming in the following week, could have an active end of the month start of march. Snow starting again on the 16th. #yeahbuoy

Sun day fun day. Buoy popped yesterday and there’s a lot of buoy action coming in the following week, could have an active end of the month start of march. Snow starting again on the 16th. #yeahbuoy ...

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It’s hammering out there, some more to go into tomorrow then tapering off. We have another buoypop on the 10th and then the 15/16th(that’s what this pic is showing), which should drop snow on the 22-24th and 28/29th (leap year bonus day) Those are on the experimental future vision buoy radar. It still looks like there’s a chance for some snow on the 14th, probably not the 12th, that storm is veering north to Jackson and some for Steamboat. Also still holding onto the storm for 18th/19th, for the record. #yeahbuoy

It’s hammering out there, some more to go into tomorrow then tapering off. We have another buoypop on the 10th and then the 15/16th(that’s what this pic is showing), which should drop snow on the 22-24th and 28/29th (leap year bonus day) Those are on the experimental future vision buoy radar. It still looks like there’s a chance for some snow on the 14th, probably not the 12th, that storm is veering north to Jackson and some for Steamboat. Also still holding onto the storm for 18th/19th, for the record. #yeahbuoy ...

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12 hour work days are less than ideal, but especially lesser than ideal on a pow day, and even more when you knew it was going to be a pow day 2 weeks ago. Dammit. Enough griping, buoypop dropping a storm on feb 18/19 assuming the high pressure doesn’t have its way with it. #yeahbuoy

12 hour work days are less than ideal, but especially lesser than ideal on a pow day, and even more when you knew it was going to be a pow day 2 weeks ago. Dammit. Enough griping, buoypop dropping a storm on feb 18/19 assuming the high pressure doesn’t have its way with it. #yeahbuoy ...

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Today was legit, some snow in and around the face! Next round starting on the 7th. Can’t tell you how nice it felt to ski pow again, it’s been so long…. Well maybe just a week or 2, but it sure felt like forever. #yeahbuoy

Today was legit, some snow in and around the face! Next round starting on the 7th. Can’t tell you how nice it felt to ski pow again, it’s been so long…. Well maybe just a week or 2, but it sure felt like forever. #yeahbuoy ...

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The snow labs did see their shadows, more snow on the way. Sampling last night storm today followed by some World Cup dual moguls tonight, go @alli_macuga ! We have some more snow coming around the sixth or seventh followed by the 12th and we had a buoy pop yesterday which throws Valentine’s Day on the calendar as qell. #yeahbuoy

The snow labs did see their shadows, more snow on the way. Sampling last night storm today followed by some World Cup dual moguls tonight, go @alli_macuga ! We have some more snow coming around the sixth or seventh followed by the 12th and we had a buoy pop yesterday which throws Valentine’s Day on the calendar as qell. #yeahbuoy ...

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Yeahbuoy! Another pop in the works for Feb 12th. Feb 2nd storm is coming into better focus too, should last through the 4th, then there’s another on deck for the 7th, and then this one. Excited to cheer for @alli_macuga and the rest of her teammates this weekend at DV World Cup. #yeahbuoy

Yeahbuoy! Another pop in the works for Feb 12th. Feb 2nd storm is coming into better focus too, should last through the 4th, then there’s another on deck for the 7th, and then this one. Excited to cheer for @alli_macuga and the rest of her teammates this weekend at DV World Cup. #yeahbuoy ...

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