There are living quarters, with food service and recreational facilities. Some offshore drilling operations even have their own waste treatment plants. Getting to the job by boat makes sense for workers on shallow water rigs, but when your job takes you more than a hundred miles offshore, a helicopter comes in handy. Deepwater oil drilling platforms have landing pads for helicopters. Helicopter pilots need reliable weather information to safely plan takeoffs and landings.
Private companies buy the weather equipment for their offshore operation.
The package includes gadgets for supplying wind speed, temperature, wave height, dew points and aircraft altimeter readings. The equipment is not automated, so it requires a worker aboard the rig to record the weather information. Observations are required just before a helicopter landing. Information from the oil rig weather observers is used on a regular basis for such things as coastal marine forecasts and offshore forecasting, but it gets extra attention during times of active tropical weather. While not all rigs share their weather information, those that do are an important part of the forecasting formula.