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NOAA AND EPA LAUNCH EXPERIMENTAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPOSURE INDEX
An experimental program designed to provide the public with an
important new addition to the daily weather forecast --
prediction of solar ultraviolet radiation levels -- premiers
today in 58 cities throughout the United States.
The program, announced jointly by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), will offer citizens a look at the next
day's level of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and should help them
guard against overexposure.
Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation has been associated
with an increased incidence of skin cancer and cataracts, and
inhibits the immune system.
EPA's Office of Research and Development initiated today's action
in 1992 when it approached the National Weather Service (NWS) to
start a program following the success of a similar service in
Canada.
"With the UV Index forecast, the public should be better informed
to take simple actions to reduce overexposure to UV radiation,"
said EPA assistant administrator Mary Nichols. "Because
scientists have estimated that people receive about 80 percent of
their lifetime exposure to the sun by the age of 18, we think
this is particularly important information for children and their
parents."
The potential for a daily ultraviolet forecast to result in
dollar savings is evidenced by Medicare's biggest cost line item
in 1993 for 1.2 million cataract surgical procedures.
As the NWS continues to refine the science behind the daily UV
forecasts, UV forecasts for 58 cities will be distributed during
the experiment. EPA will work with the Centers for Disease
Control and a coalition of health, medical and environmental
groups to provide information to the public about the UV Index
and risks of overexposure to UV radiation.
"The NWS will make UV forecasts approximately 30 hours in advance
using satellites, ground-based weather observations and computer
models," said Elbert W. Friday, Jr., director of the NWS. "We'll
use this existing technology at no additional cost to taxpayers."
NWS meteorologists plan to begin issuing the experimental
forecasts for the 58 cities today. During the course of the
experiment, NOAA/NWS and EPA will work with the private sector in
a partnership to evaluate the level of service provided by an
ultraviolet index and develop plans for the future of this
service.
The ultraviolet forecasts will account for observed and predicted
changes in stratospheric ozone data for all 58 cities and include
the effects of computer-generated cloudiness for 56 of them.
Clouds generally decrease the amount of ultraviolet radiation
reaching the earth's surface. Forecasts for Honolulu and
San Juan, Puerto Rico, will not include the effects of cloudiness
because the required computer-generated cloud forecasts are not
yet available for these locations.
Forecasts will be centrally-issued by the NWS's National
Meteorological Center in Camp Springs, Md., and sent to NWS
forecast offices will voice the daily index over the NOAA Weather
Radio network. Forecasts will also be distributed to public and
private meteorologists over the NOAA Weather Wire Service, the
Family of Services, and other weather service information
dissemination channels.
The daily forecast value in the ultraviolet index will be for
approximately 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Daylight Savings Time in each
U.S. time zone. The index value is on a scale from 0 to 10, or
higher in some areas, with corresponding exposure levels
categorized by EPA extending from minimal to very high.
The daily index, along with educational materials provided by
EPA, will help people make informed personal decisions about the
effects of UV rays on their eyes and skin.
Various private companies may produce similar forecasts which
have different numerical values, but retain the same action
messages and descriptions of exposure.
TV weathercasters and meteorologists may want to receive a
satellite transmission of a video news release and background
(B-roll) footage. This video package will be available between
2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. EDT on June 28 from the following
satellite: Galaxy C7, Transponder 9, Audio 6.2/6.8. [NOTE: This
is corrected satellite information from that which was provided
in the first WSHPNSWSH [WMO header ADMN81 KWBC] message which was
issued on 6/24/94.)
ZCZC WSHPNSWSH ALL
TTAA00 KWSH DDHHMM
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS
1025 AM EDT TUE JUN 28 1994
TO: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE (NWS) OFFICES, FAMILY OF
SERVICES (FOS) SUBSCRIBERS, NOAA WEATHER WIRE
SERVICE (NWWS) SUBSCRIBERS, OTHER NWS PRODUCT USERS
FROM: NWS OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
SUBJECT: Press Release on Ultraviolet Exposure Index
(Press Release NOAA 94-42)
Contact: NOAA, Barry Reichenbaugh or Frank Lepore (301) 713-0622
EPA, Dave Ryan, (202) 260-2981
CDC, Kate Egan, (404) 488-4751
NOAA AND EPA LAUNCH EXPERIMENTAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPOSURE INDEX
An experimental program designed to provide the public with an
important new addition to the daily weather forecast --
prediction of solar ultraviolet radiation levels -- premiers
today in 58 cities throughout the United States.
The program, announced jointly by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), will offer citizens a look at the next
day's level of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and should help them
guard against overexposure.
Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation has been associated
with an increased incidence of skin cancer and cataracts, and
inhibits the immune system.
EPA's Office of Research and Development initiated today's action
in 1992 when it approached the National Weather Service (NWS) to
start a program following the success of a similar service in
Canada.
"With the UV Index forecast, the public should be better informed
to take simple actions to reduce overexposure to UV radiation,"
said EPA assistant administrator Mary Nichols. "Because
scientists have estimated that people receive about 80 percent of
their lifetime exposure to the sun by the age of 18, we think
this is particularly important information for children and their
parents."
The potential for a daily ultraviolet forecast to result in
dollar savings is evidenced by Medicare's biggest cost line item
in 1993 for 1.2 million cataract surgical procedures.
As the NWS continues to refine the science behind the daily UV
forecasts, UV forecasts for 58 cities will be distributed during
the experiment. EPA will work with the Centers for Disease
Control and a coalition of health, medical and environmental
groups to provide information to the public about the UV Index
and risks of overexposure to UV radiation.
"The NWS will make UV forecasts approximately 30 hours in advance
using satellites, ground-based weather observations and computer
models," said Elbert W. Friday, Jr., director of the NWS. "We'll
use this existing technology at no additional cost to taxpayers."
NWS meteorologists plan to begin issuing the experimental
forecasts for the 58 cities today. During the course of the
experiment, NOAA/NWS and EPA will work with the private sector in
a partnership to evaluate the level of service provided by an
ultraviolet index and develop plans for the future of this
service.
The ultraviolet forecasts will account for observed and predicted
changes in stratospheric ozone data for all 58 cities and include
the effects of computer-generated cloudiness for 56 of them.
Clouds generally decrease the amount of ultraviolet radiation
reaching the earth's surface. Forecasts for Honolulu and
San Juan, Puerto Rico, will not include the effects of cloudiness
because the required computer-generated cloud forecasts are not
yet available for these locations.
Forecasts will be centrally-issued by the NWS's National
Meteorological Center in Camp Springs, Md., and sent to NWS
forecast offices around the country. NWS personnel at local
forecast offices will voice the daily index over the NOAA Weather
Radio network. Forecasts will also be distributed to public and
private meteorologists over the NOAA Weather Wire Service, the
Family of Services, and other weather service information
dissemination channels.
The daily forecast value in the ultraviolet index will be for
approximately 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Daylight Savings Time in each
U.S. time zone. The index value is on a scale from 0 to 10, or
higher in some areas, with corresponding exposure levels
categorized by EPA extending from minimal to very high.
The daily index, along with educational materials provided by
EPA, will help people make informed personal decisions about the
effects of UV rays on their eyes and skin.
Various private companies may produce similar forecasts which
have different numerical values, but retain the same action
messages and descriptions of exposure.
TV weathercasters and meteorologists may want to receive a
satellite transmission of a video news release and background
(B-roll) footage. This video package will be available between
2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. EDT on June 28 from the following
satellite: Galaxy C7, Transponder 9, Audio 6.2/6.8. [NOTE: This
is corrected satellite information from that which was provided
in the first WSHPNSWSH [WMO header ADMN81 KWBC] message which was
issued on 6/24/94.)
SUBJECT: NEW YORK CITY WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE'S SHORT-
FUSE COUNTY WARNING AREA EXPANDS ON SEPT. 1, 1994.
Effective Thursday, September 1, 1994 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern
Daylight Time, the National Weather Service (NWS) will transfer:
o Short-fuse warning responsibilities for four counties in
southern Connecticut (Table 1A) TO the New York City (NYC),
New York, Weather Service Forecast Office (WSFO) at
Brookhaven, Long Island FROM the Weather Service Offices
(WSO) at Bridgeport (BDR), and Hartford (BDL), Connecticut.
o Flash Flood Warning responsibility for five counties in
northeastern New Jersey (Table 1B) TO WSFO NYC FROM the WSO
Newark (EWR), New Jersey.
For these nine counties, WSFO NYC will issue all short-fuse
warning products (Table 2) and related products that give follow-
up information on the warnings (Table 3). For holders of NWS
Operations Manual Chapter C-47, County Warning Areas, this is the
24th update of the latest chapter issuance for 1994.
Because of this county warning area transfer, subscribers to the NOAA
Weather Wire Service (NWWS) and the Family of Services (FOS)
must take appropriate action to receive the short-fuse warnings
and related products for these counties using the NYC identifier
instead of the BDR, BDL, and EWR identifiers (Tables 2 and 3).
The Universal Generic Codes (UGC), however, will remain unchanged
(as shown in Tables 1A and 1B).
Examples: If you have been receiving severe thunderstorm
warnings using the product identifier BOSSVRBDR, you need to add
NYCSVRNYC. If you have been receiving flash flood warnings with
the product identifier NYCFFWEWR, you need to add NYCFFWNYC.
Table 1A - Short-fuse warning responsibility
COUNTY UGC ZONE CODE UGC COUNTY CODE FROM TO
Fairfield * CTZ005-009- CTC001- BDR NYC
New Haven * CTZ006-010- CTC009- BDR NYC
Middlesex * CTZ007-011- CTC007- BDR NYC
New London * CTZ008-012- CTC011- BDL NYC
* adjoins Long Island Sound NYZ502- remains with NYC
Table 1B - Flash Flood Warning responsibility
COUNTY UGC ZONE CODE UGC COUNTY CODE FROM TO
Passaic NJZ002-004- NJC031- EWR NYC +
Bergen NJZ003- NJC003- EWR NYC +
Essex NJZ005- NJC013- EWR NYC +
Hudson NJZ006- NJC017- EWR NYC +
Union NJZ011- NJC039- EWR NYC +
+ WSFO NYC will continue to issue all other short-fuse warnings
and related products for each of these counties.
TABLE 2. The following are short-fuse warning products for 4
Connecticut counties being transferred to WSFO NYC from WSOs
Bridgeport, and Hartford, CT and for five northeastern New Jersey
counties remaining with NYC. UGC County Codes are used in these.
Warning product for: AFOS/NWWS ID WMO Header (for FOS)
Tornadoes NYCTORNYC WFUS1 KNYC
Severe Thunderstorms NYCSVRNYC WUUS1 KNYC
Flash Floods NYCFFWNYC WRUS1 KNYC
Note: Special Marine Warnings for Long Island Sound (NYZ502-)
and New York Harbor (NYZ503-) will continue to be issued by
WSFO NYC under the header NYCSMWNYC (WMUS1 KNYC) or as a product
combined with a Severe Thunderstorm or Tornado Warning. Essex,
Hudson and Union counties in New Jersey adjoin New York Harbor.
TABLE 3. The following are key related products for the four
southern Connecticut counties being transferred to WSFO NYC and
for the five northeastern New Jersey counties remaining with
WSFO NYC. The UGC Zone Codes are used in these products.
Related Products AFOS/NWWS ID WMO header (for FOS)
Severe Weather Statement NYCSVSNYC WWUS34 KNYC
Flash Flood Statement NYCFFSNYC RWUS32 KNYC
Special Weather Statement NYCSPSNYC WWUS35 KNYC
Local Storm Report NYCLSRNYC WWUS30 KNYC
Civil Emergency Message NYCCEMNYC MMUS40 KNYC
Pubic Info. Statement NYCPNSNYC ABUS34 KNYC
Short-Term Forecast NYCNOWNYC FXUS21 KNYC
Hurricane Local Statement NYCHLSNYC WWUS31 KNYC
*Coastal Flood Wrng/Statement NYCCFWNYC FZUS68 KNYC
*(for coastal counties)Note: Marine Weather Statements for Long Island
Sound and New
York Harbor will continue to be issued by WSFO NYC under the
header NYCMWSNYC (FZUS60 KNYC).
If you have further questions, you may contact the following:
Michael Wyllie, Robert Thompson (MIC)
Meteorologist in Charge (MIC) or Glenn Field, Warning
or Gary Conte, Warning Coord. Met. Coord. Meteorologist,
NWS Forecast Office NWS Forecast Office
Bldg. NWS1, 175 Brookhaven Ave. 445 Myles Standish Blvd
Upton, New York 11973 Taunton, Massachusetts 02780
(516)-924-0037 (508)-823-1900/1983
END
NNNN?ZCZC WSHPNSWSH ALL
TTAA00 KWSH DDHHMM
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
200 PM EDT TUE JUN 28 1994
TO: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE (NWS) OFFICES, FAMILY OF
SERVICES (FOS) SUBSCRIBERS, NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE
(NWWS) SUBSCRIBERS, OTHER NWS PRODUCT USERS
FROM: DONALD R. WERNLY, CHIEF, WARNING AND FORECAST BRANCH
SUBJECT: PHILADELPHIA WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE'S
SHORT-FUSE COUNTY WARNING AREA EXPANDS ON SEPT. 1, 1994
Effective Thursday, September 1, 1994 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern
Daylight Time, the National Weather Service (NWS) will transfer
short-fuse warning responsibility for 12 counties in New Jersey
TO the Philadelphia (PHL) Weather Service Forecast Office (WSFO)
at Mt. Holly, New Jersey as noted below and in Table 1.
Warning responsibility for five (5) counties in southern New
Jersey will be transferred FROM the Weather Service Office (WSO)
in Atlantic City (ACY), New Jersey. Responsibility for seven (7)
counties in northern New Jersey will be transferred FROM the WSFO
New York City (NYC) at Brookhaven, Long Island and the WSO Newark
(EWR). WSO EWR will lose flash flood warning responsibility and
WSFO NYC will lose severe thunderstorm and tornado warning
responsibility for these counties?.
For these counties, WSFO PHL will issue all short-fuse warning
products (Table 2) and related products that give follow-up
information on the warnings (Table 3). For holders of NWS
Operations Manual Chapter C-47, County Warning Areas, this is the
25th update of the latest chapter issuance in 1994.
Because of this county warning transfer, subscribers to the NOAA
Weather Wire Service (NWWS) and the Family of Services (FOS) must
take appropriate action to receive the short-fuse warnings and
related products for these twelve counties using the PHL
identifier (Tables 2 and 3) instead of the NYC, EWR, and ACY
identifiers. The Universal Generic Codes (UGC), however, will
remain unchanged (as shown in Table 1).Examples: If you have been
receiving severe thunderstorm warnings using the identifiers PHLSVRACY or
NYCSVRNYC, you will have to change to PHLSVRPHL. If you have been
receiving flash flood warnings using NYCFFWEWR you will have to change to
PHLFFWPHL.
Table 1.
County UGC COUNTY CODE UGC ZONE CODE From To
Sussex NJC037- NJZ001- NYC/EWR* PHL
Warren NJC041- NJZ007- NYC/EWR* PHL
Morris NJC027- NJZ008- NYC/EWR* PHL
Hunterdon NJC019- NJZ009- NYC/EWR* PHL
Somerset NJC035- NJZ010- NYC/EWR* PHL
Middlesex NJC023- NJZ012- NYC/EWR* PHL
Monmouth 1 NJC025- NJZ013-014- NYC/EWR* PHL
Burlington SE + NJC005- NJZ019- ACY PHL
Ocean 1 NJC029- NJZ020-026- ACY PHL
Atlantic 1 NJC001- NJZ022-025- ACY PHL
Cumberland 2 NJC011- NJZ021- ACY PHL
Cape May 1 2 NJC009- NJZ023-024- ACY PHL
1 adjoins New Jersey coast NJZ501-
2 adjoins Delaware Bay DEZ501-
* WSO EWR loses Flash Flood Warning responsibility to WSFO PHL.
+ Burlington NW remains with WSFO PHL.
TABLE 2: The following are short-fuse warning products for the 12
counties transferred to PHL. UGC county codes are used in these.
Warning product for: AFOS/NWWS ID WMO header (for FOS)
Tornadoes PHLTORPHL WFUS1 KPHL
Severe thunderstorms PHLSVRPHL WUUS1 KPHL
Flash floods PHLFFWPHL WRUS1 KPHL Special Marine
Warnings PHLSMWPHL WMUS1 KPHL
* Special marine warnings for the New Jersey coast from Sandy
Hook to Cape May and for Delaware Bay will be issued by WSFO PHL
as a separate product or as a product combined with a severe
thunderstorm or tornado warning.
TABLE 3. The following are key related products for the twelve
counties transferred to PHL. UGC zone codes are used in these.
Related products AFOS/NWWS ID WMO header (for FOS)
Special Weather Statement PHLSPSPHL WWUS35 KPHL
Severe Weather Statement PHLSVSPHL WWUS34 KPHL
Civil Emergency Message PHLCEMPHL MMUS40 KPHL
Public Info. Statement PHLPNSPHL ABUS34 KPHL
Short-Term Forecast PHLNOWPHL FXUS21 KPHL
Flash Flood Statement PHLFFSPHL RWUS32 KPHL
Local Storm Report PHLLSRPHL WWUS30 KPHL
Hurricane Local Statement PHLHLSPHL WWUS31 KPHL
*Coastal Flood Wrng/Statement PHLCFWPHL FZUS68 KPHL
*(for coastal counties)
Note: Marine weather statements for the New Jersey coastal
waters from Sandy Hook to Cape May and for Delaware Bay will be
issued by WSFO PHL under the header PHLMWSPHL (FZUS60 KNYC).
If you have further questions, you may contact the following:
Chet Henricksen (609-261-6600) Jay I. Krieger (609-485-6475)
Meteorologist in Charge Official in Charge
NWS Forecast Office, NOAA NWS Office, NOAA
732 Woodlane Road FAA Technical Center, Bldg. 301Michael
Wyllie, Meteorologist in Charge (Ph. 516-924-0037)
Gary Conte (Warning Coord. Meteorologist)
NWS Forecast Office, NOAA
Bldg. NWS1, 175 Brookhaven Ave.
Upton, New York 11973
END
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