NOUS41 KWBC 051918
PNSWSH
Service Change Notice 12-10
National Weather Service Headquarters
Washington, DC
1115 AM EST Mon Mar 05 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: 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
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).
These WFOs will begin using the new VTEC
event code for the following BH.S: Beach Hazard Statement within the CFW
instead of:
CF.S: Coastal Flood Statement
LS.S: Lakeshore Flood Statement used in the
Great Lakes
RP.S: Rip Current Statement used at 17
coastal WFOs when specifically targeting hazardous conditions that are
occurring or likely to occur along a beach, coastal area or shore and their
immediate adjacent waters.
The Beach Hazards Statement, with the
headline of "Hazardous Beach Conditions in effect for [timeframe]" will inform beachgoers and local
authorities of a multitude of hazards including, but not limited to:
- rip currents or
other types of 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 which do not meet 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 Hazardous Beach Conditions Statement is
intended to provide information for these types of hazards in a single product.
The examples of hazards provided above will not necessarily apply to all NWS
coastal offices because each office has unique criteria for their area of
responsibility.
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:
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
Customers must make the appropriate changes
to their systems in order to process the new VTEC BH.S.
The remainder of NWS coastal and Great
Lakes offices will continue using the VTEC event codes CF.S, LS.S, and RP.S in
their Coastal/Lakeshore Hazard Message (CFW) when there is a threat of
hazardous beach conditions. No actions are necessary to continue processing the
CF.S, LS.S, and RP.S VTEC event codes.
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.
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
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:
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