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-------- Original Message --------475 NOUS41 KWBC 121904
PNSWSH
SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 08-40
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
305 PM EDT MON MAY 12 2008
TO: SUBSCRIBERS:
-FAMILY OF SERVICES
-NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE
-EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK
OTHER NWS PARTNERS...AND NWS EMPLOYEES
FROM: ELI JACKS
CHIEF...FIRE AND PUBLIC WEATHER SERVICES BRANCH
SUBJECT: RESTRUCTURING OF SOME NWS WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY
AND WARNING PRODUCTS: EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 9 2008
EFFECTIVE TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 9 2008 AT 0001 COORDINATED UNIVERSAL
TIME /UTC/ THE NWS WILL MAKE SOME CHANGES TO THE SUITE OF PRODUCTS
USED TO ADVISE AND WARN PARTNERS AND THE PUBLIC OF SIGNIFICANT
WINTER WEATHER. THE PURPOSE OF THESE CHANGES IS TO SIMPLIFY AND
CLARIFY THE COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION OF EXPECTED WINTER
WEATHER HAZARDS.
A PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT /PNS/ SOLICITING COMMENTS ON THESE PROPOSED CHANGES WAS ISSUED IN FEBRUARY 2008. THIS PNS IS AVAILABLE AT /USE LOWER CASE/:
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/OS/NOTIFICATION/OLD/PNS08CCA_WINTER_WEATHER.TXTOVER 100 COMMENTS WERE RECEIVED...A SIGNIFICANT MAJORITY OF WHICH STRONGLY SUPPORTED MOVING FORWARD WITH THESE CHANGES. THESE COMMENTS ARE CONSISTENT WITH FEEDBACK RECEIVED FROM MANY OF OUR PARTNERS AND PUBLIC USERS AS WELL AS WITH FEEDBACK RECEIVED FROM NWS FIELD MANAGERS AND FORECASTERS OVER THE PAST 3 YEARS. A FEW EXAMPLES OF THE COMMENTS RECEIVED...AS WELL AS AN ANALYSIS OF ALL THE COMMENTS...IS AVAILABLE AT /USE LOWER CASE/:
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/OS/WINTER/RESOURCES/ANALYSIS.PDF NWS WILL RESTRUCTURE ITS WINTER WEATHER PRODUCTS BY COMBINING A NUMBER OF CURRENT ADVISORY AND WARNING PRODUCTS INTO CATEGORIES ASSOCIATED WITH SIMILAR IMPACTS. FOR EXAMPLE CONDITIONS THAT CURRENTLY PROMPT THE ISSUANCE OF SEPARATE WINTER WEATHER... SNOW...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW... SLEET...AND/OR BLOWING SNOW ADVISORIES WILL BE ISSUED...AND VTEC-CODED...AS WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES. SIMILARLY CONDITIONS THAT CURRENTLY PROMPT THE ISSUANCE OF WINTER STORM...HEAVY SNOW...AND/OR SLEET WARNINGS WILL BE ISSUED...AND VTEC-CODED...AS WINTER STORM WARNINGS. IN ADDITION CONDITIONS THAT CURRENTLY PROMPT THE ISSUANCE OF SEPARATE LAKE EFFECT SNOW AND LAKE EFFECT SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORIES BY SOME CENTRAL REGION WFOS WILL BE ISSUED...AND VTEC- CODED...AS LAKE EFFECT SNOW ADVISORIES BY THOSE WFOS. NWS WILL NO LONGER USE OF THE VTEC CODES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DISCONTINUED ADVISORY AND WARNING PRODUCTS.
FREEZING RAIN...LAKE EFFECT SNOW...AND WIND CHILL ADVISORIES WILL STILL BE ISSUED AS SEPARATE PRODUCTS AND WILL RETAIN THEIR CURRENT VTEC CODES DUE TO THE UNIQUENESS OF THEIR IMPACTS. SIMILARLY BLIZZARD...ICE STORM...LAKE EFFECT SNOW...AND WIND CHILL WARNINGS WILL CONTINUE TO BE ISSUED AS SEPARATE PRODUCTS WITH THEIR CURRENT VTEC CODES.
IN ALL CASES THE SPECIFIC HAZARD INFORMATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE DISCONTINUED PRODUCTS WILL BE CLEARLY DEPICTED IN THE FIRST LINE OF THE BODY OF THE ADVISORY OR WARNING PRODUCT IN A STANDARDIZED FORMAT. A TABLE CONTAINING A LIBRARY OF THE STANDARDIZED WORDING NWS FORECASTERS WILL BE DIRECTED TO USE...ALONG WITH AN EXAMPLE OF HOW IT WILL BE UTILIZED IN THE SIMPLIFIED WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES...CAN BE FOUND AT /USE LOWER CASE/:
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/OS/WINTER/RESOURCES/WORDING.PDFTHESE CHANGES WILL REDUCE THE NUMBER OF SPECIFIC WINTER WEATHER WARNING AND ADVISORY PRODUCTS AND ENHANCE THEIR CLARITY AND CONSISTENCY AMONG ADJOINING NWS FORECAST OFFICES DURING WINTER WEATHER EVENTS. ALSO THE GRAPHICAL DEPICTION OF FORECAST WINTER WEATHER HAZARDS VIA THE NWS HOME PAGES WILL BE MORE UNDERSTANDABLE.
NO SOFTWARE CHANGES BY NWS PARTNERS OR USERS ARE ANTICIPATED AS A RESULT OF THESE PROPOSED CHANGES. THE FOLLOWING TABLES SHOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CURRENT AND FUTURE ADVISORY AND WARNING CATEGORIES:
TABLE 1 - WINTER ADVISORIES CURRENT WINTER ADVISORIES FUTURE WINTER ADVISORIES FREEZING RAIN --------------------- FREEZING RAIN LAKE EFFECT SNOW ------------------ LAKE EFFECT SNOW LAKE EFFECT SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW - LAKE EFFECT SNOW WIND CHILL ------------------------ WIND CHILL WINTER WEATHER -------------------- WINTER WEATHER SNOW ------------------------------ WINTER WEATHER SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ------------- WINTER WEATHER SLEET ----------------------------- WINTER WEATHER BLOWING SNOW ---------------------- WINTER WEATHER TABLE 2 - WINTER WARNINGS CURRENT WINTER WARNINGS FUTURE WINTER WARNINGS BLIZZARD -------------------------- BLIZZARD ICE STORM ------------------------- ICE STORM LAKE EFFECT SNOW ------------------ LAKE EFFECT SNOW WIND CHILL ------------------------ WIND CHILL WINTER STORM ---------------------- WINTER STORM HEAVY SNOW ------------------------ WINTER STORM SLEET ----------------------------- WINTER STORMA GRAPHICAL DEPICTION OF TABLES 1 AND 2 CAN BE FOUND AT /USE LOWER CASE/:
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/OS/WINTER/RESOURCES/WSW_EX.PDFNWS INSTRUCTION 10-513...WFO WINTER WEATHER PRODUCTS SPECIFICATION...WILL BE UPDATED TO REFLECT THESE CHANGES.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION REGARDING THIS PROPOSED CHANGE IN THE ISSUANCE AND DISSEMINATION OF WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE CONTACT:
PAUL STOKOLS FIRE AND PUBLIC WEATHER SERVICES BRANCH 1325 EAST WEST HIGHWAY SILVER SPRING MD 20910 301-713-1867 EXT. 139 PAUL.STOKOLS@xxxxxxxxOR THE WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST /WCM/ AT YOUR LOCAL WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE.
NWS SERVICE CHANGE NOTICES ARE ONLINE AT /USE LOWER CASE/: HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/NOTIF.HTM $$
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