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-------- Original Message --------
287
NOUS41 KWBC 151235
PNSWSH
Service Change Notice 12-23
National Weather Service Headquarters Washington DC
835 AM EDT Fri Jun 15 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 Weather Services Branch
Subject: Implementing Improved Marine Zone Coverage
for the Mobile/Pensacola Coastal Waters:
Effective October 2, 2012
Effective Tuesday, October 2, 2012, at 2:00 PM Eastern Daylight
Time (EDT) or 1200 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) the NWS
Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Mobile, Alabama, will
reconfigure its current marine zones for the Mobile/Pensacola
area. This reconfiguration will provide better forecast services
by realigning the coastal zones for climatological, geographical,
and bathymetric effects.
This change will provide enhanced forecasts for Mobile Bay; the
Mississippi Sound; Perdido Bay; Pensacola Bay, including the
Santa Rosa Sound; and Choctawhatchee Bay.
All current zones will be maintained except GMZ630 (Mobile Bay),
which will be divided into two zones: one for North Mobile Bay
and one for South Mobile Bay, split using a line between the
mouth of the Fowl River eastward to Point Clear. In addition to
a new zone for Mobile Bay, four additional new zones will be
added, all separated out of GMZ650 and GMZ655 (see Tables 1 and
2), including one for Perdido Bay, which will incorporate Wolf
Bay into the zone.
Table 1 lists all the current marine zones and corresponding
Universal Geographic Codes (UGC) for which WFO Mobile issues
forecasts and warnings.
Table 2 lists all the marine zones and corresponding UGCs for
which WFO Mobile will issue forecasts and warnings effective
October 2, 2012.
Table 3 lists all the products issued by WFO Mobile that will be
affected by the marine zone changes.
Table 1: Current marine zones and corresponding Universal
Geographic Codes (UGC) for which WFO Mobile issues forecasts and
warnings.
CURRENT MARINE ZONE NAME UGC
Mobile Bay GMZ630
Coastal Waters from Pensacola FL to GMZ650
Pascagoula MS out 20 NM
Coastal Waters from Destin FL to GMZ655
Pensacola FL out 20 NM
Waters from Pensacola FL to GMZ670
Pascagoula MS from 20 to 60 NM
Waters from Destin FL to GMZ675
Pensacola FL from 20 to 60 NM
Table 2: Marine zones and corresponding UGCs for which
WFO Mobile will issue forecasts and warnings effective
October 2, 2012.
MARINE ZONE NAME UGC
North Mobile Bay GMZ630
South Mobile Bay GMZ631
Mississippi Sound GMZ632
Perdido Bay Area GMZ633
Pensacola Bay Area including GMZ634
Santa Rosa Sound
Choctawhatchee Bay GMZ635
Coastal Waters from Pensacola FL to GMZ650
Pascagoula MS out 20 NM
Coastal Waters from Destin FL to GMZ655
Pensacola FL out 20 NM
Waters from Pensacola FL to GMZ670
Pascagoula MS from 20 to 60 NM
Waters from Destin FL to GMZ675
Pensacola FL from 20 to 60 NM
Table 3: WFO Mobile products affected by the marine zone changes
effective October 1, 2012.
PRODUCT NAME WMO HEADING AWIPS ID
COASTAL WATERS FORECAST FZUS54 KMOB CWFMOB
MARINE WEATHER MESSAGE WHUS74 KMOB MWWMOB
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING WHUS54 KMOB SMWMOB
MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT FZUS74 KMOB MWSMOB
HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENT WTUS84 KMOB HLSMOB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FLUS44 KMOB HWOMOB
WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATION WWUS64 KMOB WCNMOB
SHORT TERM FORECAST FPUS74 KMOB NOWMOB
Customers must reprogram affected hardware and software to
continue processing the products in Table 3.
An updated zone map shapefile containing the new boundaries for
these marine zones is available for download from the following
website:
www.nws.noaa.gov/geodata/catalog/wsom/html/marinezones.htm
A map showing the existing and additional marine zones that will
be effective October 2, 2012 is posted on the WFO Mobile web page
at:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mob/?n=marinezone
For questions about these changes, please contact:
John Werner Melinda Bailey
Marine Focal Point Public/Marine Meteorologist
National Weather Service National Weather Service
WFO Mobile Southern Region Headquarters
8400 Airport Blvd., Bldg. 11 819 Taylor St. Room 10A11
Mobile, AL 36608 Fort Worth TX 76102
(251) 633-6443 817-978-1100 X107
John.Werner@xxxxxxxx Melinda.Bailey@xxxxxxxx
NWS Service Change Notices are online at:
http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm
$$
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