The National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) production on the Hitachi Data System (HDS) computer is tentatively scheduled for initial termination 12Z on Wednesday April 9, 1997. At that time, transmission of NCEP products from the HDS will end. The Cray will then operate independently from the HDS. A list of the NCEP products that will be temporarily unavailable exists on the NCEP website (http://www.ncep.noaa.gov) under the Family of Services (FOS) announcement.
Starting at 12Z April 9, NCEP production will continue to run in parallel on the HDS for 24 hours, or until a full 24 hour cycle is run solely on the Cray. If no problems are encountered, HDS processing will be completely terminated at 12Z Thursday 10 April. If problems should occur, limited HDS processing will continue. Attempts at final termination of HDS processing will then occur at 12Z Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of each week until all problems are resolved.
Beginning April 15, 1997, at 6 am CDT (11Z), convective watch narrative products issued by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) at Norman, Oklahoma, will have a new format providing several improvements over the current version. The product will include both beginning and ending times of the watch. Technical information will be separated from the non-technical information, with the latter situated near the top of the product. Parts of the watch will be identified with key words "discussion," "other watch information," and "aviation." Plain language will be used to describe the potential for hail size and thunderstorm wind. The descriptive and scientifically accurate term "storm motion vector" will replace "mean wind vector." Finally, latitude/longitudes of watch box end points will be placed at the bottom and top of the product.
A generic example of the new convective watch narrative/product MKCSELX/WWUS9 KMKC is available on the web at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/notif.htm. If you have additional questions or concerns, contact William Alexander (e-mail William.Alexander@ noaa.gov).
Short fuse severe weather warnings issued by the Sioux Falls (FSD) South Dakota National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Office and the Louisville (SDF) Kentucky National Weather Service Office will have a new appearance. The change at Sioux Falls will occur April 15, 1997 at 6 am CDT (11Z) and at Louisville beginning 11Z, May 6, 1997.
The short fuse warnings will be issued with a bullet-style format instead of the current longer version. This format allows critical information to clearly stand out on individual lines separated by a blank line. No product identifier/header changes and no Universal Generic Code changes will be required for NOAA Weather Wire Service or Family of Service customers. However, some television stations will need to ensure that equipment used to generate a crawl for Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, Tornado Warnings, and Flash Flood Warnings from these two offices will accommodate the new format. A sample bulletin showing the new format can be seen at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/notif.htm. If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact David Runyan (e-mail David.Runyan@noaa.gov).
A GOES-9 East-West Station keeping maneuver will be performed on April 8, 1997, at 1300 Z. The following exclusive schedule will support maneuver operations on April 8:
| From 0715 Z through 1014 Z | GOES-8 full disk imaging |
| From 0722 Z through 0959 Z | no GOES-9 imaging |
| From 0723 Z through 1100 Z | no GOES-9 soundings |
| From 1000 Z through 1021 Z | GOES-9 routine imaging |
| From 1022 Z through 1044 Z | no GOES-9 imaging |
| From 1045 Z through 1059 Z | GOES-9 routine imaging |
| From 1100 Z through 1122 Z | GOES-9 full disk imaging and soundings |
| From 1123 Z through 1159 Z | no GOES-9 imaging or soundings |
| From 1200 Z through 1259 Z | GOES-9 full disk imaging and soundings |
| From 1245 Z through 1514 Z | GOES-8 full disk imaging |
| From 1300 Z through 1459 Z | no GOES-9 imaging or soundings |
| From 1500 Z through 2159 Z | GOES-9 abbreviated full disk (19 minute scan) and northern hemisphere imaging: abbreviated full disk at 1630 Z instead of the northern hemisphere image |
| 2200 Z | GOES-9 routine imager and sounder schedule resumes |
Expect GOES-9 imager and sounder gridding offsets for up to 6 hours following the maneuver time.
Reports that the Tucson Arizona WSR-88D site identifier is SRX are incorrect. At one time, Tucson did use the SRX identifier. However, some time ago, the identifier was changed to EMX. The identifiers for the three new WSR-88Ds are as follows:
| SRX | Western Arkansas |
| HTX | Northeastern Alabama |
| IWX | Northern Indiana |
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