NOAA Tides & Currents

You can access NOAA tides, currents, weather, moon phases, and climate data instantly through an MCP server that supports both a fast local protocol and a web-friendly HTTP stream. This server lets you query real-time data, historical trends, and climate projections with simple MCP requests from desktop clients or web applications.

How to use

You connect to the server using an MCP client of your choice. Run either the standard STDIO mode for desktop clients or the HTTP stream mode for web integration. In STDIO mode, you start a local MCP server instance and send requests directly through the MCP channel. In HTTP mode, you start a local HTTP server that outputs Server-Sent Events (SSE) so your web apps can subscribe to live data streams.

How to install

Prerequisites: you need Node.js 18+ and npm 8+ installed on your system.

Step by step commands to get started:

# Quick start: run the MCP server without installation
npx @ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server

# Or use the shorter alias for the same STDIO mode
npx noaa-mcp

Configuration and usage notes

Two transport options are available: STDIO (default MCP protocol) and HTTP stream transport. You can switch transports with command-line flags when starting the server. For HTTP mode, the server serves an SSE endpoint that you can access at the base URL, for example http://localhost:3000, and the stream can be tested via curl at http://localhost:3000/sse.

Available data tools include water levels, tides, currents, meteorological data, station information, sea level trends, flood analyses, moon and sun calculations, and climate projections. All tools support multiple output formats (JSON, XML, CSV) and can be consumed by web apps, API gateways, or direct MCP clients.

Troubleshooting

If the server won’t start: verify Node.js version is 18+ and rebuild the TypeScript sources if needed.

If you encounter API errors: confirm station IDs with the station search tool, use correct date formats, and respect NOAA API rate limits.

If you have MCP connection issues: ensure client settings are correct and the server process has execute permissions where required.

Available tools

get_water_levels

Fetch real-time and historical water level data for a given station and date range.

get_tide_predictions

Retrieve high and low tide predictions and continuous tide data for planning and analysis.

get_currents

Obtain real-time and historical current measurements, including direction and speed.

get_current_predictions

Forecast current speed and direction to support navigation and risk assessment.

get_meteorological_data

Access wind, air temperature, water temperature, pressure, and related meteorological observations.

get_stations

Search and list NOAA monitoring stations with metadata and capabilities.

get_station_details

Get detailed metadata and capabilities for a specific station.

get_sea_level_trends

Analyze long-term trends in sea level rise and variability.

get_extreme_water_levels

Statistical analysis of extreme water level events.

get_high_tide_flooding_daily

Daily counts of high tide flooding events for risk assessment.

get_high_tide_flooding_monthly

Monthly flooding patterns related to tides and sea level rise.

get_high_tide_flooding_seasonal

Seasonal analysis of high tide flood risk.

get_high_tide_flooding_annual

Yearly trends in high tide flood occurrences.

get_high_tide_flooding_projections

Future flood risk scenarios under different sea level rise projections.

get_high_tide_flooding_likelihoods

Daily probabilities of flooding under various scenarios.

get_top_ten_water_levels

Historical extremes of water levels to identify records.

get_moon_phase

Calculate current moon phase and illumination.

get_moon_phases_range

Compute moon phases over a specified date range.

get_next_moon_phase

Find the next occurrence of new, full, or quarter moons.

get_sun_times

Provide sunrise, sunset, dawn, and dusk times for a given location and date.

get_sun_times_range

Solar times over a date range for planning and navigation.

get_sun_position

Compute real-time sun azimuth and elevation.

get_next_sun_event

Identify the next sunrise, sunset, or solar noon event.

get_parameter_definitions

Return valid values for all API parameters to validate requests.