NOUS41 KWBC 191610
PNSWSH

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 03-31
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
1215 PM EDT THU JUN 19 2003

TO        FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER
          WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS...EMERGENCY MANAGERS
          WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK /EMWIN/ SUBSCRIBERS...
          NOAAPORT SUBSCRIBERS...OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
          /NWS/ CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS...AND NWS EMPLOYEES

FROM      GLENN AUSTIN
          CHIEF...FIRE AND PUBLIC WEATHER SERVICES BRANCH

SUBJECT   INTRODUCTION AND TESTING OF THE VALID TIME EVENT CODE
          AT THE YAKUTAT ALASKA WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE...
          EFFECTIVE AUGUST 19 2003 

EFFECTIVE TUESDAY AUGUST 19 2003 AT 800 AM ALASKA DAYLIGHT TIME
/ADT/...1600 COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME /UTC/...THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN YAKUTAT ALASKA WILL BEGIN INCLUDING THE
VALID TIME EVENT CODE /VTEC/ IN WINTER WEATHER /WSW/ AND
NON-PRECIPITATION WEATHER /NPW/ WATCH/WARNING ADVISORY
PRODUCTS...SEE TABLE 1.  THE PURPOSE IS TO TEST VTEC USAGE. 

THE TEST WILL ALLOW THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TO ENSURE THE
PROGRAMS WHICH CREATE THE VTEC RUN CORRECTLY AND ALSO ALLOW
EXTERNAL CUSTOMERS TO DETERMINE WAYS TO UTILIZE THE VTEC IN THEIR
DISSEMINATION AND NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS.  THIS TEST WILL BE
CONTINUOUSLY EVALUATED...WITHOUT A PLANNED ENDING DATE.  IF ANY
SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS ARISE...THE TEST WILL BE DISCONTINUED.

THE VTEC SPECIFIES THE CONTENT OF EACH MESSAGE SO CUSTOMERS
CAN USE AUTOMATED PROGRAMS TO READ...PROCESS...AND FURTHER
DISTRIBUTE MESSAGES /OR PORTIONS OF MESSAGES/ WITHOUT HUMAN
INTERVENTION.  A VTEC STRING WILL BE LOCATED DIRECTLY BELOW THE
UGC LINE/S/ IN EACH WSW AND NPW PRODUCT FROM THE YAKUTAT OFFICE.  

SEE TABLE 2 FOR A KEY TO THE VTEC ELEMENTS.  FOR A DESCRIPTION OF
THE CODE AND ALL ELEMENTS...SEVERAL PRODUCT EXAMPLES...AND
IMPLEMENTATION PLANS...PLEASE SEE THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE /USE
LOWER CASE LETTERS/

          http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/vtec/

ALL CUSTOMERS SHOULD TEST THEIR DISSEMINATION SYSTEM/S/ TO ENSURE
THE TEST VTEC LINE/S/ DOES NOT ADVERSELY IMPACT THE SYSTEM/S/ BY 
AUGUST 19 2003.


TABLE 1  MESSAGES FROM THE YAKUTAT ALASKA OFFICE WHICH WILL
CONTAIN THE VTEC CODE.  W/W/A REFERS TO WATCH...WARNING...OR
ADVISORY.

W/W/A STANDS FOR WATCHES...WARNINGS...OR ADVISORIES

MESSAGE TYPE                  WMO HEADING    AWIPS ID

NON-PRECIPITATION W/W/A       WWAK77 PAYA    NPWYAK
WINTER WEATHER W/W/A          WWAK47 PAYA    WSWYAK

/END OF TABLE 1/


VTEC FORMAT...

THE FOLLOWING IS A GENERIC FORMAT OF ONE VTEC STRING TO DESCRIBE
A SINGLE EVENT.  EACH WATCH...WARNING...OR ADVISORY IS
ACCOMPANIED BY A VTEC STRING...SO TWO WARNINGS IN ONE SEGMENT
WOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY TWO VTEC STRINGS/.

/AAA.CCCC.PP.S.####.YYMMD1D1THHNNZ-YYMMD2D2THHNNZ/

AAA.CCCC.PP.S.#### DESCRIBES EACH WEATHER EVENT AND
YYMMD1D1THHNNZ-YYMMD2D2THHNNZ DESCRIBES THE BEGINNING AND ENDING
VALID TIME OF THE EVENT.


TABLE 2   KEY TO VTEC ELEMENTS

AAA - ACTION CODE            /E.G. NEW FOR NEW ISSUANCE/
CCCC - OFFICE ID             /I.E. PAYA FOR THE YAKUTAT OFFICE/
PP - PHENOMENA CODE          /E.G. HS FOR HEAVY SNOW/
S - SIGNIFICANCE CODE        /E.G. W FOR WARNING/
#### - EVENT TRACKING NUMBER /I.E. 0005 FOR THE FIFTH ISSUANCE OF
                           A SPECIFIC WATCH...WARNING...OR
                           ADVISORY/
YYMMD1D1THHNNZ - EVENT BEGINNING YEAR/DATE/TIME GROUP IN UTC
YYMMD2D2THHNNZ - EVENT ENDING YEAR/DATE/TIME GROUP IN UTC


VTEC DELIMITERS:

/ - BEGINS AND ENDS EACH VTEC STRING
. - SEPARATES VTEC ELEMENTS 


FOR AN EXAMPLE SHOWING THE UGC AND VTEC FOR ONE WSW EVENT SEE
TABLE 3.


TABLE 3  PARTIAL WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE EXAMPLE USING VTEC STRING 

WWAK47 PAYA 050400
WSWYAK

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE YAKUTAT AK
1100 PM AST FRI FEB 7 2003

...DISCUSSION...  

AKZ022-050400-
/NEW.PAYA.HS.W.0001.030205T1200Z-030206T0000Z/
CAPE FAIRWEATHER TO CAPE SUCKLING COASTAL AREA-
INCLUDING...YAKUTAT

/REMAINDER OF MESSAGE/

END OF EXAMPLE


INTERPRETATION OF THE ABOVE EXAMPLE...
THE YAKUTAT ALASKA OFFICE /PAYA/ ISSUED A WSW PRODUCT FOR A NEW
/NEW IN THE CODE/ HEAVY SNOW /HS/ WARNING /W/...EFFECTIVE AT 
1200 UTC ON FEBRUARY 5 2003.  IT WAS THE FIRST HEAVY SNOW WARNING
/0001/ FROM THIS OFFICE FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR.  THE HEAVY SNOW
WARNING IS VALID UNTIL 0000 UTC ON FEBRUARY 6 2003.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...PLEASE CONTACT     

	  AIMEE DEVARIS 
	  ALASKA REGION WARNING PROGRAM MANAGER
	  ANCHORAGE ALASKA
	  PHONE   907-271-3507 
	  E-MAIL  AIMEE.DEVARIS@NOAA.GOV 

THIS NOTICE AND OTHER SERVICE CHANGE NOTICES ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE
AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/

     http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/notif.htm

$$
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