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-------- Original Message --------
146
NOUS41 KWBC 011505
PNSWSH
Service Change Notice 12-10, Amended
National Weather Service Headquarters Washington, DC
1105 AM EDT Tue May 2 2012
To: Subscribers:
-Family of Services
-NOAA Weather Wire Service
-Emergency Managers Weather Information Network
-NOAAPort
Other NWS Partners, Users and Employees
From: Mark Tew
Chief, Marine and Coastal Services Branch
Subject: Amended: Test of Beach Hazards Statement with new
Valid Time Event Code (VTEC) in Coastal Hazard Message
at Select Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) Effective
May 15, 2012
Amended to do the following:
-Add links to examples of the new product
-Change the headline wording in the product
-Clarify wording in one paragraph
Effective Tuesday May 15, 2012, at 1200 Coordinated Universal
Time (UTC), six NWS Weather Forecast Offices will use a new
VTEC event code for beach hazards in their Coastal Hazard
Messages (CFW).
Table 1: Communication identifiers for the CFWs issued by the
6 WFOs that will use the new VTEC for Beach Hazards (BH.S)
effective May 15, 2012:
Issuing WFO WMO Header AWIPS Id
----------- ----------- --------
Grand Rapids, MI WHUS43 KGRR CFWGRR
San Francisco Bay Area, CA WHUS46 KMTR CFWMTR
Newport/Morehead City, NC WHUS42 KMHX CFWMHX
New Orleans/Baton Rouge, LA WHUS44 KLIX CFWLIX
Seattle, WA WHUS56 KSEW CFWSEW
Tampa Bay Area, FL WHUS52 KTBW CFWTBW
For the offices participating in this test, the new VTEC code
BH.S will replace the following VTEC codes:
CF.S - Coastal Flood Statement
LS.S - Lakeshore Flood Statement (used in the Great Lakes)
RP.S - Rip Current Statement
Coastal NWS offices not participating in this test will not use
the BH.S VTEC code and continue to use the CF.S, LS.S, and RP.S
codes (In offices where the RP.S code is used).
Customers must make the appropriate changes to their systems in
order to process the new VTEC BH.S.
This test of the new VTEC event code (BH.S) within the CFW by the
WFOs specified in Table 1 will continue until further notice,
unless significant negative feedback is received.
The headline "Hazardous Beach Conditions" has been changed to
"Beach Hazards Statement" in the following paragraph.
The Beach Hazards Statement, with the headline of "Beach Hazards
Statement in effect for [timeframe]" will inform beachgoers and
local authorities of a multitude of hazards including, but not
limited to:
-Rip currents or other dangerous currents in the surf zone
-Unusually cold water temperatures
-Potential for lightning along the beach/shoreline
high heat indices which do not meet advisory criteria
-Unusual surf/wave conditions not meeting advisory criteria
In coordination with other agencies, as needed, the product may
also inform users of various types of environmental hazards,
e.g., chemical spills, harmful algal blooms, high bacteria levels
in the water, or potentially hazardous marine wildlife which may
be impacting the area.
The following paragraph has been reworded for clarification:
The Beach Hazards Statement is intended to provide information
for these types of hazards in a single product. The types of
hazards listed above will not necessarily apply to all NWS
coastal offices participating in this test. Each office has
unique criteria for their area of responsibility and will tailor
the contents as appropriate.
Below are links to examples of the Beach Hazards Statement.
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/resources/bhs1.pdf
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/resources/bhs2.pdf
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/resources/bhs3.pdf
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/resources/bhs4.pdf
The BH.S will be operational, i.e., the VTEC line will carry the
(O) identifier. The Beach Hazard information issued by these
offices will be highlighted in turquoise, same color as rip
current statement, on the NWS Watch, Warning Advisory map at:
http://www.weather.gov
Users are encouraged to provide feedback by using the brief
survey and comment form on the Internet at:
weather.gov/survey/nws-survey.php?code=CHMBHS
For information on beach hazards safety and awareness please
refer to the new Beach Hazards Safety and Awareness page,
currently under construction:
http://www.weather.gov/beachhazards
General background information on VTEC can be found online at:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/vtec
If you have questions or comments please contact:
David Soroka
National Marine Program Leader
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-713-1677 ext. 111
David.Soroka@xxxxxxxx
NWS Service Change Notices are online at:
http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm
$$
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