A Coast Guard cutter and crew recently helped the National Weather Service restore a critical tool used to forecast incoming surf and weather around the Hawaiian Islands.

The Coast Guard cutter Kukui recently repositioned NOAA Weather Buoy 51003 at its mooring about 205 nautical miles southwest of O'ahu.

The buoy had been adrift since breaking free from its mooring in January. The Kukui's crew put it back on station late last month after repairs were made in Honolulu.

The 20-foot-long, 5.7-ton aluminum-hulled NOMAD buoy is operated by the National Data Buoy Center, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The sophisticated weather instruments housed on Buoy 51003 measure typical readings like temperature, pressure and wind. However, it is also equipped with specialized sensors that calculate swell height, period and direction.

This information is used by the Honolulu weather forecast office to issue lifesaving high-surf advisories, analyze tropical cyclone formations and fine-tune daily weather forecasts.