NOUS41 KWBC 191334 CCA PNSWSH SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 04-53...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC 930 AM EDT TUE OCT 19 2004 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: MARK TEW ACTING CHIEF FIRE AND PUBLIC WEATHER SERVICES BRANCH SUBJECT: CORRECTED...CHANGE OF CLIFTON FORGE...VA FROM INDEPENDENT CITY TO TOWN STATUS IN PUBLIC PRODUCTS...EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY 1 2005 CORRECTED TO CHANGE TABLE 1 BY CORRECTING AWIPS ID ENTRY... THE ENTIRE WATCH CLEARANCE NOTIFICATION ENTRY AND ADDING THE WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE ENTRY. EFFECTIVE TUESDAY... FEBRUARY 1 2005 AT 400 AM EASTERN STANDARD TIME /EST/...0900 COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME /UTC/... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ WILL IMPLEMENT A CHANGE TO THE FEDERAL INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM /FIPS/ CODE FOR CLIFTON FORGE IN VIRGINIA. IF SEVERE WEATHER IS OCCURRING... OR FORECAST TO OCCUR... AT THE SCHEDULED IMPLEMENTATION TIME... AN UPDATED SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE WILL BE ISSUED TO POSTPONE THIS CHANGE UNTIL WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 2 2005 AT 400 AM EST. THE FIPS CODE FOR THE INDEPENDENT CITY OF CLIFTION FORGE /560/ WILL NO LONGER BE USED IN PRODUCTS LISTED IN TABLE 1 AND WILL BE REPLACED WITH THE FIPS CODE FOR ALLEGHANY COUNTY /005/. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY... WHICH ASSIGNS AND MAINTAINS FIPS CODES... OFFICIALLY CHANGED THE FIPS CODE FOR CLIFTON FORGE IN JULY OF 2001 BUT FOR SEVERAL REASONS NWS DID NOT MAKE THE CHANGE AT THAT TIME. THE FIPS CODE CHANGE IS CAUSED BY THE CHANGE IN STATUS OF CLIFTON FORGE FROM INDEPENDENT CITY TO TOWN STATUS. CLIFTON FORGE IS NOW AN INCORPORATED PLACE WITHIN ALLEGHANY COUNTY. THE COUNTY FORM OF THE UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHIC CODE /UGC/ USED IN NWS PRODUCTS AND THE COUNTY PORTION OF THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO /NWR/ SPECIFIC AREA MESSAGE ENCODING /SAME/ CODE ARE DIRECTLY DERIVED FROM THE FIPS COUNTY CODE. THEREFORE ON FEBRUARY 1 2005 AT 400 AM EST... NWS WILL BEGIN USING THE COUNTY CODE NUMBER FOR ALLEGHANY COUNTY /005/ AND DISCONTINUE USING THE CURRENT CODE NUMBER FOR CLIFTON FORGE /560/. THE COUNTY CODE IS CRITICAL FOR RECEIVING WATCH... WARNING AND FOLLOW-UP PRODUCTS SUCH AS TORNADO AND FLOOD WATCHES AND WARNINGS. ALL NWS CUSTOMERS AND WEATHER RADIO OWNERS WHO RECEIVE PRODUCTS COVERING CLIFTON FORGE AND RELY ON THE C FORM OF THE UGC CODE...OR THE NWR SAME COUNTY CODE...MUST REPROGRAM THEIR EQUIPMENT NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 1 2005 IN ORDER TO CONTINUE TO RECEIVE THE WARNINGS LISTED IN TABLE 1. WE RECOMMEND CUSTOMERS PROGRAM THE NEW CODE /005/ AT THEIR CONVENIENCE BEFORE FEBRUARY 1 2005 AND RETAIN THE CURRENT CODE /560/ IN THEIR SYSTEM/S/ UNTIL AFTER FEBRUARY 1. THAT WAY THE CHANGE ON FEBRUARY 1 WILL BE TRANSPARENT AND USERS WILL ONLY NEED TO DELETE THE OLD CODE /560/ AT THEIR CONVENIENCE AFTER THE IMPLEMENTATION. FOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO LISTENERS IN THE CLIFTON FORGE AREA: ALL INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS IN CLIFTON FORGE...SUCH AS THE MEDIA... LAW ENFORCEMENT... EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT... AND SCHOOLS... WHO OWN A WEATHER RADIO RECEIVER WITH NWR SAME CAPABILITIES... AND HAVE PROGRAMMED IN CLIFTON FORGE INDEPENDENT CITY... MUST REPROGRAM THEIR WEATHER RADIO RECEIVER/S/ TO CONTINUE TO RECEIVE WARNINGS FOR CLIFTON FORGE. INSTRUCTIONS ON REPROGRAMMING YOUR WEATHER RADIO ARE IN THE OWNERS MANUAL OR AVAILABLE FROM THE MANUFACTURER OF YOUR RADIO... YOUR LOCAL RETAILER OR ONLINE AT THE MANUFACTURER WEB SITE. FOR YOUR INFORMATION A LIST OF MANY WEATHER RADIO RECEIVER MANUFACTURERS IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT /USE LOWER CASE/: WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/NWR/NWRRCVR.HTM OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION USEFUL TO REPROGRAM YOUR WEATHER RADIO RECEIVER ARE: NWS OFFICE IN BLACKSBURG HOME PAGE AT: HTTP://WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/RNK/ NWS NOAA WEATHER RADIO SAME CODE INFORMATION PAGE AT: HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/NWR/NWRSAME.HTM TOLL-FREE NUMBER PROVIDED BY THE NWS: 1-888-NWR-SAME OR 1-888-697-7263 TABLE 1. NWS PRODUCTS AFFECTED BY THE FIPS CODE CHANGE FOR CLIFTON FORGE VA FROM INDEPENDENT CITY TO TOWN STATUS: PRODUCT NAME WMO HEADING AWIPS ID TORNADO WARNING WFUS51 KRNK TORRNK SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WUUS51 KRNK SVRRNK FLASH FLOOD WARNING WGUS51 KRNK FFWRNK SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT WWUS51 KRNK SVSRNK FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT WGUS71 KRNK FFSRNK FLOOD WARNING WGUS41 KRNK FLWRNK FLOOD STATEMENT WGUS81 KRNK FLSRNK WATCH REDEFINING STATEMENT WWUS61 KAKQ SLSVA WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATION WWUS61 KRNK WCNRNK WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE WOUS64 KWNS WOU# # IS LAST DIGIT OF WATCH NUMBER BETWEEN 0 AND 9. UPDATED COUNTY FILES AND MAPS DELETING THE REFERENCE TO CLIFTON FORGE AS INDEPENDENT CITY AND INCLUDING CLIFTON FORGE AS A PART OF ALLEGHANY COUNTY WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD FROM THE FOLLOWING WEB SITE BY NOVEMBER 1 2004 /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/: HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/GEODATA/CATALOG/COUNTY/HTML/COUNTY.HTM ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS AND ANY FUTURE NWS IMPLEMENTATIONS OF FIPS CODE CHANGES IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/: WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/NWR/NWSFIPSCHG.HTM IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS CHANGE...PLEASE CONTACT: DAVID WERT METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 1750 FORECAST DRIVE BLACKSBURG VA 24060 PHONE: 540-552-0084 EMAIL: DAVID.WERT@NOAA.GOV HENDRICUS LULOFS WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 1750 FORECAST DRIVE BLACKSBURG VA 24060 PHONE: 540-552-1041 EXT. 223 EMAIL: HENDRICUS.LULOFS@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 $$ NNNN