NOUS41 KWBC 121505
PNSWSH
Service Change Notice 12-10, Amended
National Weather Service Headquarters
Washington, DC
1105 AM EDT Tue May 2 2012
To:
Subscribers:
-Family of Services
-NOAA Weather Wire Service
-Emergency Managers Weather Information Network
-NOAAPort
Other NWS Partners, Users and Employees
From:
Mark Tew
Chief, Marine and Coastal Services Branch
Subject: Amended: Test of Beach Hazards Statement with
new
Valid Time Event Code (VTEC) in
Coastal Hazard Message
at Select Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) Effective
May 15, 2012
Amended to do the following:
-Add links to examples of the new product
-Change the headline wording in the product
-Clarify wording in one paragraph
Effective Tuesday May 15, 2012, at 1200
Coordinated Universal Time
(UTC), six NWS Weather Forecast Offices
will use a new
VTEC event code for beach hazards in their Coastal Hazard Messages (CFW).
Table 1:
Communication identifiers for the CFWs issued by the
6 WFOs that will use the new VTEC for Beach Hazards (BH.S) effective May 15,
2012:
Issuing WFO WMO Header AWIPS Id
----------- ----------- --------
Grand Rapids, MI WHUS43 KGRR CFWGRR
San Francisco Bay Area, CA WHUS46 KMTR CFWMTR
Newport/Morehead City, NC WHUS42 KMHX CFWMHX
New Orleans/Baton Rouge, LA WHUS44 KLIX CFWLIX
Seattle, WA WHUS56 KSEW CFWSEW
Tampa Bay Area, FL WHUS52 KTBW CFWTBW
For the offices participating in this test,
the new VTEC code
BH.S will replace the following VTEC codes:
CF.S – Coastal Flood Statement
LS.S – Lakeshore Flood Statement (used in
the Great Lakes)
RP.S – Rip Current Statement
Coastal NWS offices not participating in
this test will not use the BH.S VTEC code
and continue to use the CF.S, LS.S, and RP.S
codes (In offices where the RP.S code
is used).
Customers must make the appropriate changes
to their systems in order to process
the new VTEC BH.S.
This test of the new VTEC event code (BH.S)
within the CFW by the WFOs specified in
Table 1 will continue until further notice,
unless significant negative feedback
is received.
The headline "Hazardous Beach
Conditions" has been changed to "Beach Hazards Statement"
in the following paragraph.
The Beach Hazards Statement, with the
headline of "Beach Hazards Statement in effect
for (timeframe)" will inform beachgoers
and local authorities of a multitude of hazards
including, but not limited to:
-Rip currents or other dangerous currents
in the surf zone
-Unusually cold water temperatures
-Potential for lightning along the
beach/shoreline
high heat indices which do not meet advisory criteria
-Unusual surf/wave conditions not meeting
advisory criteria
In coordination with other agencies, as
needed, the product may also inform users of
various types of environmental hazards, e.g.,
chemical spills, harmful algal blooms,
high bacteria levels in the water, or
potentially hazardous marine wildlife which
may be impacting the area.
The following paragraph has been reworded
for clarification:
The Beach Hazards Statement is intended to
provide information for these types of
hazards in a single product. The types of hazards
listed above will not necessarily
apply to all NWS coastal offices participating
in this test. Each office has unique
criteria for their area of responsibility and will
tailor the contents as appropriate.
Below are links to examples of the
Beach Hazards Statement.
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/resources/bhs1.pdf
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/resources/bhs2.pdf
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/resources/bhs3.pdf
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/resources/bhs4.pdf
The BH.S will be operational, i.e., the
VTEC line will carry the (O) identifier.
The Beach Hazard information issued by
these offices will be highlighted in turquoise,
same color as rip current statement, on the NWS
Watch, Warning Advisory map at:
Users are encouraged to provide feedback by
using the brief survey and comment form
on the Internet at:
weather.gov/survey/nws-survey.php?code=CHMBHS
For information on beach hazards safety and
awareness please refer to the new Beach
Hazards Safety and Awareness page,
currently under construction:
http://www.weather.gov/beachhazards
General background information on VTEC can
be found online at:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/vtec
If you have questions or comments please
contact:
National Marine Program Leader
NWS Service Change Notices are online at: