NOUS41 KWBC 031627
PNSWSH
Service Change Notice 11-08
National Weather Service Headquarters
1025 AM EST Thu Feb 3 2011
TO: Subscribers:
-Family of Services
-NOAA Weather Wire Service
-Emergency Managers Weather Information Network
-NOAAPORT
Other NWS partners and NWS employees
FROM: Therese Z. Pierce
Chief, Marine and Coastal Services Branch
Weather Forecast Offices for tropical cyclones
in the
Effective May 15, 2011
REFERENCE: SCN 11-07 issued February 3, 2011: Changes to the
Hurricane Local Statement format issued by Weather
Forecast Offices for tropical cyclones in the
Atlantic and Eastern Pacific hurricane basins:
Effective May 15, 2011
Beginning on May 15, 2011, in response to feedback from partners
and users and as the first phase in a long-term NWS plan to unify the issuance of Tropical Cyclone Watches and Warnings, the following changes will be made to tropical cyclone watches and warnings issued by the NWS. 1. SERVICE CHANGES FROM WEATHER FORECAST OFFICES
a. Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) will no longer issue Tropical Cyclone Wind Watches and Warnings for affected inland
(public) zones in their areas of responsibility.
Specifically, the following watches and warnings will no longer
be issued by WFOs for inland zones: Tropical Storm Wind Watch
Tropical Storm Wind Warning
Hurricane Wind Watch
Hurricane Wind Warning
The following Valid Time Event Code (VTEC) event names and
associated phenomena codes will be discontinued: Tropical Storm Wind and phenomena code /TI/
Hurricane Wind and phenomena code /HI/
b. Beginning on May 15, 2011, WFOs will issue Tropical Cyclone Watches and Warnings for inland (public) zones in their area of
responsibility. Specifically, the following watches and warnings will be issued
by WFOs for inland zones via the WFO’s Hurricane Local Statement (HLS) product:
Tropical Storm Watch
Tropical Storm Warning
Hurricane Watch
Hurricane Warning
The following VTEC event names and associated phenomena codes
will be issued by WFOs for inland zones effective May 15, 2011: Tropical Storm and phenomena code /TR/
Hurricane and phenomena code /HU/
WFOs will issue Tropical Storm/Hurricane Watches for their
inland zones when tropical storm/hurricane force winds are possible within 48 hours from a tropical cyclone. WFOs will issue Tropical Storm/Hurricane Warnings when tropical storm/hurricane force winds are expected within 36 hours from a tropical cyclone. The associated VTEC Event Tracking Numbers (ETNs) will be
unified for all tropical cyclone watches and warnings for inland (public) zones, coastal (public) zones, and marine zones, for a
given event. In short, if the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued a Tropical Cyclone Valid Time Event Code (TCV) product, then the ETN in the TCV will be the same as the ETN in all WFO-issued HLS products for the event. These changes in WFO services will be reflected in the WFO’s HLS
products. 2. THERE IS NO CHANGE IN THE PROVISION AND DELIVERY OF TROPICAL
CYCLONE WATCHES AND WARNINGS FOR COASTAL (LAND) ZONES ISSUED BY
THE NHC. There is no change in the TCV products issued by NHC. 3. THERE IS NO CHANGE IN THE PROVISION AND DELIVERY OF HIGH
WIND WATCHES AND WARNINGS BY THOSE INLAND OFFICES ISSUING A NON-
PRECIPITATION WEATHER PRODUCT (NPW) IN TROPICAL CYCLONE
SITUATIONS. 4. THERE IS NO CHANGE IN THE PROVISION AND DELIVERY OF TROPICAL
CYCLONE WATCHES AND WARNINGS FROM NWS OFFICES IN THE CENTRAL AND
WESTERN PACIFIC HURRICANE BASINS. If you have questions regarding this notice, please contact:
Timothy Schott
National Weather Service
Marine and Coastal Services Branch
301-713-1677 x122
Timothy.Schott@noaa.gov National Service Change Notices are online at:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/notif.htm
$$
NNNN
|