NOUS41 KWBC 281904
AAA
PNSWSH
Service Change
Notice 13-11 Amended
National Weather
Service Headquarters Washington, DC
205 PM EST Thu
Feb 28 2013
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
NOAA’s National Weather Service
Peter Stone
Chief, Oceanographic Division
Center for Operational Oceanographic
Products and
Services (CO-OPS)
NOAA's National Ocean Service
Subject: Amended: Change in Issuance Criteria for
Beach
Hazards Statements for Harmful Algal Bloom
(HAB)
Issued by WFO Tampa Bay Area,
Effective Immediately
Refer to: SCN 13-11, issued January 31, 2013, subject: Beach Hazards
Statements issued by WFO Tampa Bay Area to include information about
harmful algal blooms (HAB) when appropriate,
effective February 4, 2013
This notice is
amended to:
1. Change the
issuance criteria for Beach Hazards Statements
issued by WFO Tampa Bay Area for harmful algal blooms.
Specifically, the
third criteria listed below has changed: Beach
Hazards
Statements for HAB will now be issued by WFO Tampa Bay
only when National Ocean Services’ (NOS’) HAB-OFS
team forecasts
high respiratory impacts are possible in the WFO
Tampa Bay Area’s
area of responsibility. Previously, the criteria included
moderate respiratory impacts as well as high
respiratory impacts.
2. Correct the
e-mail address for the point of contact
3. Update
associated information online, including a new example
based on the new criteria, posted to:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/resources/bhs-tbw.pdf
Effective
immediately, harmful algal bloom information provided
by NOAA’s National Ocean Service’s
HAB-Operational Forecast
System (HAB-OFS),
which meets the criteria shown below, will be
included in the Beach Hazards Statement being tested
by WFO Tampa
Bay
Area. NOAA's HAB-OFS
provides information on the location,
extent, and the potential for development or
movement of harmful
algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico.
An NWS Beach
Hazards Statement will be issued by WFO Tampa Bay
Area for its area
of responsibility for a HAB of Karenia brevis
(commonly known as Florida Red Tide) if all of the following
criteria apply:
- NOS HAB-OFS
team has issued a HAB-OFS public conditions
report or update.
- Karenia brevis concentrations
which correlate to respiratory
impacts (between low
b and high (>50,000 cells/L)) have been
confirmed by in-situ
cell counts in WFO Tampa Bay Area’s area
of responsibility.
- NOS HAB-OFS
team forecasts high respiratory impacts are
possible in the WFO
Tampa Bay Area’s area of responsibility.
If the level of
forecasted respiratory impacts decreases, WFO
Tampa Bay Area
will cancel the Beach Hazards Statement for HAB.
An updated
example of the Tampa Bay Area Beach Hazards Statement
containing harmful algal bloom information, based on
the new
criteria, and a graphic showing WFO Tampa Bay Area’s
area of
responsibility is online at:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/resources/bhs-tbw.pdf
Routine HAB
bulletins prepared by NOS HAB-OFS are issued to
coastal managers once a week, at a minimum, or twice
a week
during an active bloom. For more information about
HAB-OFS and
the services they provide, refer to:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/hab/
The Beach Hazards
Statement is issued under the NWS Coastal
Hazard Message
(CFW) with a Valid Time Event Code (VTEC) of BH.S.
The Beach Hazards
Statement is being tested by six WFOs, but only
the Beach Hazards Statement issued by WFO Tampa
Bay Area will
incorporate HAB content, when criteria are met, at this
time.
Table 1: Communication identifier for the CFW issued
by the
WFO Tampa Bay
Area for Beach Hazards (BH.S):
Issuing WFO WMO Header AWIPS Id
----------- ----------- --------
Tampa Bay Area,
FL WHUS42 KTBW CFWTBW
In addition to
HAB impacts, the Beach Hazards Statement issued by
WFO Tampa Bay
Area, with the headline of "Beach Hazards Statement
in effect for [timeframe]" will also
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 that do not meet advisory
criteria
- Unusual surf/wave conditions not meeting
advisory criteria
WFO Tampa Bay
Area will coordinate with NOS’ HAB analysts in the
HAB-OFS program
concerning harmful algal blooms and potential
health impacts on coastal areas. The HAB analysts
will provide
necessary information to include in the Beach Hazards
Statement issued
by WFO Tampa Bay Area for its area of
responsibility. The HAB information will originate from
operational HAB forecast bulletins generated by NOS’
HAB-OFS
analysts in the NOS’ Center for Operational
Oceanographic and
Products and
Services (CO-OPS). An NOS HAB-OFS point of contact
for additional information will be included in
all Beach Hazards
Statements
with HAB information.
The Beach Hazards
Statement is intended to provide information
for the hazards listed above in a single
product. Those hazards
will not necessarily be included in the Beach
Hazards Statements
issued by all NWS coastal offices taking part in
this test. Each
office has unique criteria for its area of
responsibility and
will tailor the contents of the Beach Hazards
Statement as
appropriate. For example, only WFO Tampa Bay Area is
testing the
inclusion of HAB information in its Beach Hazards
Statement.
The BH.S VTEC
code is operational, i.e., the VTEC line carries
the (O) identifier. When in effect, the Beach
Hazard information
issued by WFO Tampa Bay Area and the other five
test offices is
highlighted in turquoise on the NWS Watch, Warning,
Advisory map:
Users interested
in the Beach Hazards Statement, who have not
already installed the code, may need to make the
appropriate
changes to their systems to process the BH.S VTEC
code if they
have not done so already. No additional changes
are necessary.
The test of the
new VTEC event code (BH.S) began on May 15, 2012,
and will continue until further notice. For
information about the
other five offices taking part in the BHS test,
refer to the
original Service Change Notice, issued May 2,
2012:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/scn12-10zone_des-aaa.htm
Users are
encouraged to provide feedback by using the brief
survey and comment form:
http://weather.gov/survey/nws-survey.php?code=CHMBHS
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:
Chris Alex
Ecological
Forecasting Focal Point
NWS Marine and
Coastal Weather Services Branch
Silver Spring, MD
20910
301-713-1858 ext.
171
NWS Service
Change Notices are online at:
http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm
$$