Dr. Bill's Marine Weather is a service of the Coastal Weather Research Center at the University of South Alabama. The purpose of this website is to provide useful information for the everyday needs of the amateur or professional angler. To do this, Dr. Bill's Marine Weather has combined exclusive products of the Coastal Weather Research Center with public products of several government agencies such as the National Weather Service, the National Ocean Service and the U.S. Naval Observatory. In addition to selected government products, such as marine forecasts, tides, solar and lunar tables and radar, an exclusive marine discussion is prepared daily by the staff of the Coastal Weather Research Center. This informative product consists of an in depth analysis of the expected weather and sea conditions along the central Gulf Coast including projections for several days in advance. In addition, Dr. Bill's Marine Weather, in cooperation with Exxon-Mobil, will provide early morning sea conditions from Exxon Mobil platform 112B located some 3 miles south-southwest of Fort Gaines, Alabama. This is the only offshore non-buoy information available to local anglers.

The products utilized in Dr. Bill's Marine Weather come from the resources of the Coastal Weather Research Center, a fully operational forecast service located on the main campus of USA. Since it's opening on January 1, 1988, the Weather Center has been providing accurate and timely information to businesses and industries across southeast Mississippi, southwest Alabama and northwest Florida. Now, with the support of our sponsors, the staff of Coastal Weather is able to direct important information to those involved in Gulf Coast fishing.

The Weather Center is directed by Dr. Bill Williams, meteorologist and associate professor at the University of South Alabama. Dr. Williams has been teaching meteorology and geography at USA since 1967 and during that period has authored numerous publications including the annual Mobile Weather and Marine Almanac. In addition, he developed both the Coastal Weather Research Center and USA's undergraduate meteorology program, the first and only undergraduate meteorology program in Alabama. Dr. Williams has also served as chief meteorologist for Mobile radio stations WKSJ and WNTM and served as severe storm analyst for WKRG-TV in Mobile.

Dr. Keith Blackwell assists in the forecasting operations at Coastal Weather and also serves as the Center's hurricane specialist. Dr. Blackwell has a wealth of meteorological experience, especially along the Gulf Coast. A native of Mobile, he served as a forecast meteorologist with the U.S. Air Force for 13 years during which he helped develop the meteorology program at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Dr. Blackwell is an associate professor of meteorology at the University of South Alabama, the author of numerous publications and the creator of a highly successful hurricane forecast model that is now used at the Coastal Weather Research Center. Dr. Blackwell is currently involved in research on landfalling hurricanes and continues his association with the military serving as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.

The daily operations of the Weather Center are the concern of Pete McCarty. Pete has served as manager of the Weather Center since its opening day and has developed a keen insight into the informational needs of Alabama fishermen. In addition, Pete McCarty formulated many of the forecast and communication procedures currently used at the Center. In addition to his forecasting and managerial duties, Pete maintains the Center's weather archive and assists in the preparation of the Mobile Weather and Marine Almanac.