NOUS41 KWBC 301503 PNSWSH SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 05-24 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC 1050 AM EDT THU JUN 30 2005 TO: FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS... NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS... EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK /EMWIN/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAAPORT SUBSCRIBERS... OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS...AND NWS EMPLOYEES FROM: ROBERT J. MCLEOD CHIEF...AWARENESS BRANCH OFFICE OF CLIMATE...WATER...AND WEATHER SERVICES SUBJECT: OPERATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE VALID TIME EVENT CODE /VTEC/ IN SEVEN NWS EVENT-DRIVEN PRODUCTS AND TWO ROUTINE MARINE PRODUCTS EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 1 2005 ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 1 2005 AT 1800 COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME /UTC/... ALL WEATHER FORECAST OFFICES /WFO/ IN THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES /CONUS/ WILL TRANSITION FROM EXPERIMENTAL VALID TIME EVENT CODE /VTEC/ TO OPERATIONAL VTEC IN SEVEN NWS EVENT- DRIVEN OR NON-ROUTINE PRODUCT CATEGORIES...INCLUDING ONE NATIONAL EVENT-DRIVEN PRODUCT CATEGORY... TWO WFO ROUTINE MARINE FORECASTS WILL ALSO TRANSITION FROM USE OF EXPERIMENTAL VTEC TO OPERATION VTEC ON NOVEMBER 1 2005. IF NOVEMBER 1 2005 IS DECLARED A NATIONAL CRITICAL WEATHER DAY... IMPLEMENTATION WILL OCCUR ON THE NEXT WEEKDAY NOT DECLARED A CRITICAL WEATHER DAY. THE 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 VTEC PROVIDES INFORMATION ON THE EVENT. THE UGC DESCRIBES THE AFFECTED GEOGRAPHIC AREA. THERE ARE TWO FORMS OF VTEC...THE PRIMARY OR P-VTEC AND...IN CERTAIN HYDROLOGIC PRODUCTS...A SUPPLEMENTARY HYDROLOGIC OR H- VTEC ALWAYS USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH AND OCCURRING ON THE LINE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE P-VTEC STRING/S/. THE P-VTEC STRING/S/ AND ANY H-VTEC STRING/S/ OCCUR IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE UGC STRING AND...DEPENDING ON WHETHER THE PRODUCT IS SEGMENTED OR NOT...WILL OCCUR IN DIFFERENT PLACES IN THE PRODUCT. BEGINNING ON THE IMPLEMENTATION DATE...THE FOLLOWING NWS WFO TEXT PRODUCT CATEGORIES WILL CONTAIN OPERATIONAL VTEC: WFO EVENT-DRIVEN PUBLIC PRODUCTS WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATION WCN WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE WSW NON-PRECIPITATION WEATHER MESSAGE NPW WFO EVENT-DRIVEN HYDROLOGIC PRODUCTS FLOOD WATCH AND FLASH FLOOD WATCH FFA WFO EVENT-DRIVEN COASTAL AND MARINE PRODUCTS COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE AND LAKESHORE HAZARD MESSAGE /INCLUDING HIGH SURF/ CFW WFO EVENT-DRIVEN FIRE WEATHER PRODUCTS RED FLAG WARNING AND FIRE WEATHER WATCH RFW NATIONAL EVENT-DRIVEN PRODUCT WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE /AS NEEDED UPDATES/ WOU WFO ROUTINE MARINE FORECASTS COASTAL WATERS FORECAST CWF GREAT LAKES NEARSHORE FORECAST NSH THIS IMPLEMENTATION NOTICE FOLLOWS THE SUCCESSFUL OPERATIONAL TEST AND EVALUATION /OTE/ FOR THE GRAPHICAL HAZARD GENERATION /GHG/ SOFTWARE WHICH WAS RUN FROM MAY 9 2005 TO JUNE 24 2005 IN WHICH OVER 30 WFOS ISSUED PRODUCTS WITH EXPERIMENTAL AND TEST VTEC. REMAINING WFOS WILL BEGIN ISSUING EXPERIMENTAL VTEC IN THESE OPERATIONAL PRODUCTS AS THEY INSTALL THE NEW GHG SOFTWARE AND COMPLETE STAFF TRAINING. ALL CONUS WFOS WILL CHANGE FROM EXPERIMENTAL VTEC TO OPERATIONAL VTEC ON NOVEMBER 1 2005. THESE OPERATIONAL VTEC PRODUCT CATEGORIES WILL JOIN THE SIX PRODUCT CATEGORIES WHICH BEGAN USING OPERATIONAL VTEC ON FEBRUARY 8 2005: SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING SVR TORNADO WARNING TOR SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT SVS SPECIAL MARINE WARNING SMW MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT /FOLLOW-UP TO SMW/ MWS WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE /INITIAL AND FINAL ONLY/ WOU ADDITIONAL VTEC TESTING FOR OTHER NWS EVENT-DRIVEN HYDROLOGIC PRODUCTS AND MARINE WEATHER STATEMENTS /THOSE WHICH DO NOT FOLLOW UP A SPECIAL MARINE WARNING PRODUCT/ IS PLANNED FOR FALL 2005 OR WINTER 2006. THE TESTING SCHEDULE FOR THOSE PRODUCTS WILL BE LISTED IN FUTURE PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTS. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON VTEC...INCLUDING THE FINAL DRAFT VERSION OF THE UPDATED VTEC DIRECTIVE /NWS INSTRUCTION 10-1703/ AND OTHER DRAFT AND OPERATIONAL NWS DIRECTIVES...ALONG WITH THE UPDATED LIST OF WFOS ISSUING PRODUCTS WITH EXPERIMENTAL VTEC... CAN ALL BE FOUND AT THE VTEC WEB SITE AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/: HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OS/VTEC THE UPDATED VTEC DIRECTIVE / NWS INSTRUCTION 10-1703 / IS EXPECTED TO BE OFFICIALLY ISSUED AND AVAILABLE ON THE ABOVE WEBSITE AND ON THE NWS DIRECTIVES WEBSITE BY JULY 29 2005 AFTER FINAL INTERNAL NWS APPROVALS. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...PLEASE CONTACT: HERB WHITE DISSEMINATION SERVICES MANAGER SILVER SPRING MARYLAND PHONE: 301-713-0090 X 146 E-MAIL: HERBERT.WHITE@NOAA.GOV THIS AND OTHER NWS SERVICE CHANGE NOTICES ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/: HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OS/NOTIF.HTM $$ NNNN