NOUS41 KWBC
DDHHMM
PNSWSH
Service Change
Notice 12-31
National Weather
Service Headquarters Washington DC
350 PM EDT Mon
Sep 10 2012
To: Subscribers:
-Family of Services
-NOAA Weather Wire Service
-Emergency Managers Weather
Information Network
-NOAAPORT
Other NWS partners and NWS employees
From: Mark Tew
Chief, Marine and Coastal Weather
Services Branch
Eli Jacks
Chief, Fire and Public Weather
Services Branch
Subject: ShapeFile
Correction and Adjustment for the Upper and
Lower Houston Ship Channel and
Galveston Bay Effective
October 11, 2012
Effective
Thursday, October 11, 2012, at 1:00 PM Central Daylight
Time (CDT), 1800
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the NWS
Weather Forecast
Office (WFO) in Houston/Galveston, TX (HGX) will
correct/adjust its current fire, public, county and marine
zone
configurations for the Houston Metropolitan Area (Upper and
Lower
Houston Ship
Channel)and Galveston Bay. This change will improve
decision support services by reincorporating the
Lower Houston
Ship Channel into
marine zone GMZ335, Galveston Bay, and
graphically depicting the Upper Houston Ship Channel in
the
Harris County,
TX, fire and public zones TXZ213 and county area
TXC201.
The Lower Houston
Ship Channel has always been part of marine
zone GMZ335, Galveston Bay, per NWS Instruction
10-302, Marine
and Coastal Services Areas of Responsibility. It
was
inadvertently omitted during the transition from low to
high
resolution shapefiles. Reincorporating the Lower
Houston Ship
Channel into
marine zone GMZ335 will restore a portion of the
marine zone previously in the lower resolution
shapefiles.
In addition, the
Upper Houston Ship Channel has always been part
of the land zones/county area associated with
Harris County. The
low resolution shapefiles were not able to
depict it. Graphically
depicting the Upper Houston Ship Channel in fire and
public zones
TXZ213 and county
area TXC201 for Harris County will improve
decision support services for the Port of Houston.
The Upper Ship
Channel will not
be included in marine zone GMZ335 because the
upper channel is not subject to the same sea
conditions that
occur over the more open waters of the lower ship
channel or
Galveston
Bay.
The following
table lists the zones/county and corresponding Zone
(Z) and County
(C) Universal Geographic Codes (UGC) that will be
impacted by this change.
ZONE/COUNTY
NAME UGC Type
---------------- --- ----
Galveston
Bay GMZ335 Marine
Harris
County TXC201 County
Harris TXZ213 Fire & Public
Updated
shapefiles are available online:
www.nws.noaa.gov/geodata/catalog/wsom/html/marinezones.htm
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/geodata/catalog/wsom/html/pubzone.htm
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/geodata/catalog/wsom/html/firezone.htm
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/geodata/catalog/county/html/county.htm
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/geodata/catalog/wsom/html/cwa.htm
Graphical
depictions are online at:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/images/hgxA1.jpg
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/images/hgxA2.jpg
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/images/hgxA3.jpg
For more
information, please contact:
Brian Kyle Melinda Bailey
Marine Focal
Point Public/Marine
Meteorologist
National Weather
Service National Weather
Service
WFO
Houston/Galveston Southern
Region Headquarters
Dickinson,
TX 77539 Fort Worth, TX 76102
(281)337-5074 x
229 (817)978-1100 x 107
Brian.Kyle@noaa.gov Melinda.Bailey@noaa.gov
National Service
Change Notices are online at:
$$
