960624: METAR Testing Tues-NOUS (fwd)

• To: nws-changes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
• Subject: 960624: METAR Testing Tues-NOUS (fwd)
• From: Linda Miller <lmiller@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 15:31:54 -0600 (MDT)

260 
NOUS41 KWBC 241945
PNSNMC
 
NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION MESSAGE (NTIM) 96-15
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
400 PM EDT MON JUN 24 1996
 
TO           USERS OF US SURFACE OBSERVATION DATA
             
FROM         HOWARD J. DIAMOND
             NWS METAR/TAF IMPLEMENTATION MANAGER 
 
SUBJECT      METAR/TAF PROJECT - FAA TEST OF AWOS METAR DATA
 
ON TUESDAY JUNE 25 FROM 0350 TO 0410 HOURS EDT - THE FAA IS GOING
TO TEST THE ABILITY OF ITS GS-200 AND WEATHER MESSAGE SWITCHING
CENTER REPLACEMENT (WMSCR) SYSTEMS TO PROCESS AWOS DATA AND
CONVERT THE DATA TO THE METAR FORMAT.  DUE TO THE CONFIGURATION
OF THE FAA'S COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS - THIS AWOS DATA WILL BE
TRANSMITTED IN METAR FORMAT - AND THEREFORE THERE WILL BE NO SAO-
FORMATTED DATA AVAILABLE FROM FAA AWOS SITES DURING THIS 20-
MINUTE TEST PERIOD.  
 
AGAIN - THE TESTING IS SCHEDULED TO START AT 3:50 A.M. EDT AND
FINISH AT 4:10 A.M. EDT.  THIS TIME PERIOD WAS ESTABLISHED
BECAUSE METAR-FORMATTED DATA WILL BE TRANSMITTED IN PLACE OF 
SAO-FORMATTED DATA FROM FAA AWOS SITES DURING THE TEST - AND IT
WAS DETERMINED BY BOTH THE FAA AND NWS THAT THE LEAST IMPACT TO
OPERATIONS WOULD BE DURING THIS EARLY MORNING PERIOD.  AFTER 4:10
A.M. EDT ALL FAA AWOS REPORTING STATIONS WILL REVERT BACK TO THE
SAO FORMAT UNTIL THE METAR IMPLEMENTATION FORMALLY TAKES EFFECT
NEXT WEEK.
 
THE US IMPLEMENTATION OF METAR-FORMATTED SURFACE OBSERVATIONS IS
STILL SCHEDULED TO OCCUR AT 0800 HOURS UTC ON JULY 1 1996 AND
THIS 20-MINUTE TEST PERIOD ON JUNE 25 IS INTENDED TO VERIFY THE
ABILITY OF THE FAA COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM TO BE PREPARED FOR THE
FINAL METAR TRANSITION NEXT WEEK.
     
END