NOUS41 KWBC 241954
PNSWSH

SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 08-45
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
400 PM EDT TUE JUN 24 2008

TO:       SUBSCRIBERS:
          -FAMILY OF SERVICES
          -NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE
          -EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK
          OTHER NWS PARTNERS...USERS AND EMPLOYEES

FROM:     ELI JACKS
          CHIEF...FIRE AND PUBLIC WEATHER SERVICES BRANCH

SUBJECT:  FORMAT CHANGE TO THE LATITUDE/LONGITUDE
          INFORMATION IN STORM PREDICTION CENTER MESOSCALE
          DISCUSSIONS EFFECTIVE OCT 21 2008

EFFECTIVE TUESDAY OCT 21 2008 AT 0800 CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME 
/CDT/...1300 COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME /UTC/...THE NWS STORM 
PREDICTION CENTER /SPC/ WILL CHANGE THE LATITUDE/LONGITUDE 
INFORMATION IN THE MESOSCALE DISCUSSIONS /AWIPS ID: SWOMCD/... 
FOR CONUS USE ONLY.

THIS CHANGE STANDARDIZES THE FORMAT FOR LATITUDE LONGITUDE DATA 
WITHIN SPC PRODUCTS. AN ADDITIONAL EFFORT TO STANDARDIZE THE 
LATITUDE LONGITUDE FORMAT WITHIN THE NWS IS UNDER CONSIDERATION.

THE FORMAT CHANGE CONSISTS OF TWO ITEMS:

  1.  THE PHRASE LAT...LON WILL BE LISTED IN FRONT OF THE 
LATITUDE LONGITUDE POINTS CONSISTENT WITH OTHER SPC PRODUCTS 
CONTAINING LATITUDE LONGITUDE DATA.

  2.  THE LIST OF LATITUDE LONGITUDE POINTS WILL ALWAYS DESCRIBE 
A CLOSED AREA...SO THE LAST POINT LISTED WILL BE THE SAME AS THE 
FIRST POINT LISTED.

AN EXAMPLE OF THE CURRENT SWOMCD PRODUCT FORMAT IS SHOWN BELOW:

EXAMPLE 1:

ACUS11 KWNS 231710
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 231710
FLZ000-231815-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0984
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1210 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 2008

NARRATIVE TEXT

..SPC.. 05/23/2008

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...MFL...MLB...TBW...JAX...

26058012 25718094 26818213 27738262 28948261 28998209
28748103 26898001 26557996

&&

END OF EXAMPLE 1

AN EXAMPLE OF THE NEW SWOMCD PRODUCT FORMAT AFTER 1300 UTC ON 
OCTOBER 21 2008 IS SHOWN BELOW:

EXAMPLE 2:

ACUS11 KWNS 221710
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 221710
FLZ000-221815-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0984
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1210 PM CDT WED OCT 22 2008

NARRATIVE TEXT

..SPC.. 10/22/2008

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...MFL...MLB...TBW...JAX...

LAT...LON    26058012 25718094 26818213 27738262 28948261
             28998209 28748103 26898001 26557996 26058012

&&

END OF EXAMPLE 2

LATITUDE LONGITUDE VALUES IN THE PRODUCT ARE IN DECIMAL DEGREES.  
THE LONGITUDE VALUES ARE CODED AS FOUR DIGITS...SO POINTS WEST 
OF 99.99W ARE CODED WITH THE HUNDREDS DIGIT REMOVED...THAT IS 
THE NUMBER ONE /1/ IS NOT INCLUDED.  FOR EXAMPLE...34760394 IS 
DECODED AS 34.76N AND 103.94W.

TO FURTHER ILLUSTRATE DECODING LATITUDE LONGITUDE POINTS...THE 
AREA FROM EXAMPLE 2 HAS THE FOLLOWING LATITUDE LONGITUDE POINTS:

LAT...LON    26058012 25718094 26818213 27738262 28948261
             28998209 28748103 26898001 26557996 26058012

WHICH CAN BE DECODED AS:

  26.05N     80.12W
  25.71N     80.94W
  26.81N     82.13W
  27.73N     82.62W
  28.94N     82.61W
  28.99N     82.09W
  28.74N     81.03W
  26.89N     80.01W
  26.55N     79.96W
  26.05N     80.12W

NOTE...THE PHRASE LAT...LON PRECEDES THE POINTS AND THE LAST 
POINT IS THE SAME AS THE FIRST POINT AND INDICATES THE AREA IS A 
CLOSED AREA.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS...PLEASE CONTACT:

DR. RUSSELL SCHNEIDER                GREGORY GROSSHANS
CHIEF SCIENCE SUPPORT BRANCH         METEOROLOGIST
STORM PREDICTION CENTER              STORM PREDICTION CENTER
120 DAVID L. BOREN BLVD.             120 DAVID L. BOREN BLVD
SUITE 2500                           SUITE 2500
NORMAN OK 73072                      NORMAN OK 73072
405-325-2462                         703-325-2466
RUSSELL.SCHNEIDER@NOAA.GOV           GREGORY.GROSSHANS@NOAA.GOV

THIS AND OTHER NWS SERVICE CHANGE NOTICES ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE 
AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:

   HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/NOTIF.HTM

$$

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