NOUS41 KWBC 252001 PNSWSH SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 09-16 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC 300 PM WED FEB 25 2009 TO: SUBSCRIBERS: - FAMILY OF SERVICES - NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE - EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK - OTHER NWS PARTNERS AND USERS - NWS EMPLOYEES - USERS OF TSUNAMI PRODUCTS FROM: THERESE Z. PIERCE CHIEF...MARINE AND COASTAL WEATHER SERVICES BRANCH SUBJECT: OPERATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE VALID TIME EVENT CODE /VTEC/ IN NWS TSUNAMI /TSU/ PRODUCTS EFFECTIVE TUESDAY JUNE 30 2009 EFFECTIVE TUESDAY JUNE 30 2009 AT 1900 UNIVERSAL COORDINATED TIME /UTC/...9 AM HAWAII STANDARD TIME... 11 AM ALASKA DAYLIGHT TIME... 3 PM EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME ON...NWS WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER /WC/ATWC/ IN PALMER ALASKA /AK/ AND NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER /PTWC/ IN EWA BEACH HAWAII /HI/ WILL OPERATIONALLY IMPLEMENT THE VALID TIME EVENT CODE /VTEC/ FOR SEVERAL DOMESTIC TSUNAMI /TSU/ PRODUCTS. IF JUNE 30 2009 IS DECLARED A NATIONAL CRITICAL WEATHER DAY...IMPLEMENTATION WILL OCCUR ON THE NEXT WEEKDAY NOT DECLARED A CRITICAL WEATHER DAY. VTEC ALWAYS IS USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH...AND PROVIDES SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION TO...THE UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHIC CODE /UGC/ TO FURTHER AID IN THE AUTOMATED DELIVERY OF NWS TEXT PRODUCTS TO USERS. THE UGC CODE DESCRIBES THE AFFECTED GEOGRAPHIC AREA AND INCLUDES A PRODUCT EXPIRATION TIME. THE VTEC CODE PROVIDES FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE EVENT SUCH AS THE HAZARD... ITS STATUS...EVENT TRACKING NUMBER... AND STARTING/ENDING TIMES OF THE HAZARD. THE VTEC LINE OCCURS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE UGC LINE. TABLE 1 DESCRIBES THE NWS TSUNAMI /TSU/ PRODUCTS THAT WILL CONTAIN THE VTEC LINE. UGC AND VTEC CODES ARE PROVIDED FOR UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES ONLY. THE WEPA41 AND WEXX20 TSUNAMI /TSU/ PRODUCTS INCLUDE CANADA ALTHOUGH THERE ARE NO ASSOCIATED UGC CODES. TABLE 2 DESCRIBES THE VTEC EVENT CODES THAT WILL BE USED IN THE PRODUCTS LISTED IN TABLE 1. TABLE 1. NWS TSUNAMI /TSU/ PRODUCTS THAT WILL CONTAIN THE VTEC LINE EFFECTIVE JUNE 30 2009. PRODUCT NAME WMO HEADING AWIPS ID ISSUING CENTER TSUNAMI MESSAGE WEHW40 PHEB TSUHWX PTWC TSUNAMI MESSAGE WEPA41 PAAQ TSUWCA WC/ATWC TSUNAMI MESSAGE WEXX20 PAAQ TSUAT1 WC/ATWC TABLE 2. VTEC EVENT CODES THAT WILL BE USED IN THE PRODUCTS LISTED IN TABLE 1. PHENOMENA NAME/CODE EVENT NAME/CODE TSUNAMI/TS TSUNAMI WATCH/TS.A TSUNAMI/TS TSUNAMI WARNING/TS.W TSUNAMI/TS TSUNAMI ADVISORY/TS.Y VTEC IS DESCRIBED IN FURTHER DETAIL IN NWS INSTRUCTION 10-1703...ONLINE AT /USE LOWERCASE/: HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/DIRECTIVES/SYM/PD01017003CURR.PDF MORE BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON VTEC CAN BE FOUND AT THE VTEC WEB SITE AT /USE LOWERCASE/: HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/VTEC VTEC IN TSUNAMI PRODUCTS WILL FOLLOW THE RULES IN THE DOCUMENTS MENTIONED ABOVE EXCEPT FOR THE EVENT TRACKING NUMBER /ETN/ ELEMENT. ETNS WILL INCREMENT GLOBALLY AT EACH CENTER BY TSUNAMI EVENT /WHETHER WARNING... WATCH... OR ADVISORY/... WITH THE ETNS FOR ANY LEVEL OF HAZARD BEING THE SAME FOR THAT EVENT. THE TWO TSUNAMI WARNING CENTERS WILL HAVE SEPARATE ETNS. VTEC EXAMPLES IN TSUNAMI PRODUCTS ARE ONLINE AT /USE LOWERCASE/: WC/ATWC PRODUCTS HTTP://WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV/EXAMPLES PTWC PRODUCTS - HTTP://WWW.PRH.NOAA.GOV/PTWC/ABOUT_MESSAGES.PHP?REGION=1 CUSTOMERS RECEIVING THE PRODUCTS IN TABLE 1 SHOULD REPROGRAM THEIR SOFTWARE TO EFFECTIVELY USE NEW VTEC CODES LISTED IN TABLE 2. ANY REQUIRED OPERATIONAL TESTING OF VTEC WILL TAKE PLACE AFTER JUNE 30 2009 AND WILL BE ANNOUNCED BEFORE TESTING. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...PLEASE CONTACT: PAUL WHITMORE DIRECTOR WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER PALMER ALASKA PHONE: 907-745-4212 PAUL.WHITMORE@NOAA.GOV CHARLES MCCREERY DIRECTOR PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HAWAII PHONE: 808-792-4301 CHARLES.MCCREERY@NOAA.GOV RICHARD MAY MARINE METEOROLOGIST SILVER SPRING MARYLAND PHONE: 301-713-1677 X 127 RICHARD.MAY@NOAA.GOV NATIONAL SERVICE CHANGE NOTICES ARE ONLINE AT /USE LOWERCASE/: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/OS/NOTIF/HTM $$ NNNN