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NOUS41 KWBC 172126
PNSWSH
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 01-75
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
430 PM EST MON DEC 17 2001
TO: FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER
WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS...EMERGENCY MANAGERS
WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK /EMWIN/ SUBSCRIBERS...
OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ CUSTOMERS AND
PARTNERS...NWS EMPLOYEES
FROM: ROBERT J. MCLEOD
CHIEF...AWARENESS BRANCH
SUBJECT: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TO RECOGNIZE NEW COUNTY IN
COLORADO IN NWS WARNINGS AND FORECASTS...IMPORTANT
CHANGE IN SEVERE WEATHER CODING AND CHANGES TO THREE
COLORADO FORECAST ZONES...EFFECTIVE MARCH 12 2002
ON TUESDAY MARCH 12 2002 AT 800 AM MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME
/MST/...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN DENVER COLORADO
WILL BEGIN INCLUDING BROOMFIELD COUNTY...A NEW COUNTY IN
COLORADO...IN NWS FORECASTS AND WARNINGS. IF SEVERE WEATHER IS
OCCURRING...OR FORECAST TO OCCUR...AT THE SCHEDULED
IMPLEMENTATION TIME...A SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE WILL BE ISSUED TO
POSTPONE THIS CHANGE UNTIL WEDNESDAY MARCH 13 2002 AT 800 AM MST.
BROOMFIELD COUNTY WAS ESTABLISHED IN COLORADO IN NOVEMBER 2001.
THE NEW COUNTY WAS PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS THE CITY OF BROOMFIELD...
AND WAS FORMED FROM PORTIONS OF ADAMS...BOULDER...JEFFERSON...AND
WELD COUNTIES.
IN RECOGNIZING THE NEW COUNTY IN COLORADO ON MARCH 12 2002...TWO
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WILL BE MADE:
1/ COLORADO ZONES 39...40...AND 43 WILL BE MODIFIED...AND
2/ A NEW FEDERAL INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM /FIPS/ CODE WILL
BE USED FOR BROOMFIELD COUNTY.
DETAILS ABOUT BOTH OF THESE CHANGES ARE GIVEN BELOW.
1/ COLORADO ZONES 39...40...AND 43 MODIFIED
BEGINNING ON MARCH 12...THE WESTERN PORTION OF BROOMFIELD COUNTY
WILL BE INCLUDED IN COLORADO ZONE 39 AND EASTERN BROOMFIELD
COUNTY WILL BE IN COLORADO ZONE 40. A SMALL PORTION OF EXTREME
NORTHEAST BROOMFIELD COUNTY WILL BE REMOVED FROM SOUTHERN
COLORADO ZONE 43 AND ADDED TO ZONE 40. THE NEW NAMES FOR THESE
ZONES ARE SHOWN BELOW:
COLORADO ZONE 39:
BOULDER AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES BELOW 6000 FEET/WEST BROOMFIELD
COUNTY
COLORADO ZONE 40:
NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET /DENVER/ WEST ADAMS AND
ARAPAHOE COUNTIES/ EAST BROOMFIELD COUNTY
UPDATED PUBLIC FORECAST ZONE SHAPEFILES REFLECTING THE ZONE
CHANGES WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD FROM THE FOLLOWING WEB
SITE BY MID-JANUARY 2002 /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:
http://www.awips.noaa.gov/mapdata/newcat/wsom/c11-zone.htm
2/ IMPORTANT CHANGE IN SEVERE WEATHER CODING - NEW FIPS CODE FOR
BROOMFIELD COUNTY
BROOMFIELD COUNTY COLORADO HAS BEEN ASSIGNED A NEW FIPS COUNTY
CODE 014. THE NWS WILL BEGIN USING THIS NEW CODE IN THE WARNINGS
LISTED IN TABLE 1 ON MARCH 12 2002. THE COUNTY FORM OF THE
UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHIC CODE /UGC/ USED IN NWS PRODUCTS AND THE
COUNTY PORTION OF THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO /NWR/ SPECIFIC AREA
MESSAGE ENCODING /SAME/ CODE ARE DIRECTLY DERIVED FROM THE FIPS
COUNTY CODE. THE COUNTY CODE IS CRITICAL FOR RECEIVING
SHORT-FUSED WARNINGS SUCH AS TORNADO AND FLOOD WARNINGS.
ALL NWS CUSTOMERS AND WEATHER RADIO OWNERS WHO RECEIVE PRODUCTS
COVERING THE NEW BROOMFIELD COUNTY AND RELY ON THE C FORM OF THE
UGC CODE...OR THE NWR SAME COUNTY CODE...MUST PROGRAM THE NEW
CODE /014/ INTO THEIR EQUIPMENT NO LATER THAN MARCH 12 2002 IN
ORDER TO RECEIVE THE WARNINGS LISTED IN TABLE 1. WE RECOMMEND
CUSTOMERS PROGRAM THE NEW CODE AT THEIR CONVENIENCE BEFORE
MARCH 12 2002...SO THE CHANGE WILL BE TRANSPARENT TO YOU ON THE
EFFECTIVE DATE.
NWR LISTENERS WHO HAVE SPECIFICALLY PROGRAMMED IN ADAMS...
BOULDER...JEFFERSON...AND WELD COUNTIES...MAY WANT TO RETAIN THE
CODES FOR THOSE COUNTIES IN THEIR EQUIPMENT TO CONTINUE TO
RECEIVE WARNINGS FOR THOSE COUNTIES. THE FIPS CODES FOR THOSE
COUNTIES ARE:
COLORADO COUNTY FIPS CODE
ADAMS 001
BOULDER 013
JEFFERSON 059
WELD 123
INSTRUCTIONS ON REPROGRAMMING YOUR WEATHER RADIO ARE IN THE
OWNERS MANUAL OR AVAILABLE FROM THE MANUFACTURER OF YOUR
RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL RETAILER. FOR YOUR INFORMATION...A LIST OF
MANY WEATHER RADIO RECEIVER MANUFACTURERS IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT
/USE LOWER CASE/:
www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwrrcvr.htm
OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR REPROGRAMMING YOUR WEATHER RADIO
RECEIVER ARE:
1/ THE NWS OFFICE IN BOULDER HOME PAGE AT /USE LOWER CASE
LETTERS/:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/den/nwrnoaa.html
2/ THE NWS NOAA WEATHER RADIO SAME CODE INFORMATION PAGE AT /USE
LOWER CASE LETTERS/:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwrsame.htm
3/ A TOLL-FREE NUMBER PROVIDED BY THE NWS:
1-888-NWR-SAME /1-888-697-7263/
TABLE 1. NWS PRODUCTS AFFECTED BY THE FIPS CODE CHANGE FOR
BROOMFIELD COUNTY:
PRODUCT NAME WMO HEADING AWIPS IDS
TORNADO WARNING WFUS52 KBOU TORDEN
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WGUS52 KBOU SVRDEN
FLASH FLOOD WARNING WGUS52 KBOU FFWDEN
FLOOD WARNING WRUS52 KBOU FLWDEN
CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE MMUS40 KBOU CEMDEN
UPDATED COUNTY SHAPEFILES REFLECTING THE COUNTY CHANGES DESCRIBED
ABOVE WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD FROM THE FOLLOWING WEB SITE
BY MID-JANUARY 2002 /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:
http://www.awips.noaa.gov/mapdata/newcat/county/county_all.htm
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS AND ANY FUTURE NWS IMPLEMENTATIONS
OF FIPS CODE CHANGES WILL BE POSTED TO A WEB PAGE ENTITLED
"NWS IMPLEMENTATIONS OF FIPS CODE CHANGES" AT /USE LOWER CASE
LETTERS/:
www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwsfipschg.htm
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE NEW BROOMFIELD COUNTY...CALL
LARRY MOONEY /METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE/ OR ROBERT GLANCY /WARNING
COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST/ AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE IN BOULDER COLORADO AT 303-494-3210.
THIS AND ALL OTHER NWS SERVICE CHANGE NOTICES ARE AVAILABLE ON
THE INTERNET AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/notif.htm
END
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