TO: All Holders of Operations Manual

SUBJECT: Transmittal Memorandum for Operations Manual Issuance 99-08

1. Material Transmitted:

WSOM Chapter A-40, Service Change Process.

2. Summary:

This is a new chapter. It provides standardized procedures for implementing new or revised products and services, including guidelines for coordination and authorizations, and for notifying National Weather Service partners and customers of upcoming changes.

3. Effects on Other Instructions:

None.

John J. Kelly, Jr.

Table of Contents: Page

1. Introduction 2

2. Service Changes 2

2.1 National Service Changes 2

2.2 Local or Regional Service Changes 3

3. Coordination 3

4. Authorizations 4

4.1 NWSH Management 4

4.2 RH Management 4

5. Implementation Support Actions 5

6. Notification and Implementation 5

6.1 Official Notification 6

6.2 Internet Notification 6

Appendix:

A - Electronic Notification Messages A-1

1. Introduction. The service change process provides standardized procedures for implementing new or revised products and services, and for notifying National Weather Service (NWS) partners and customers of upcoming service changes. This process does not include system changes. System changes are covered in Weather Service Operations Manual (WSOM) Chapter A-21, Configuration Management.

Every NWS entity should be continually working with our customers and partners to improve service. The service change process is intended to encourage creativity while delivering the consistent services our customers and partners expect.

2. Service Changes. There are two types of service changes: (1) national and (2) local/regional. National service changes require final authorization by appropriate NWS Headquarters (NWSH) management. Local or regional service changes are authorized by local or regional management, as appropriate.

2.1 National Service Changes. National service changes include changes to "official and operational products and data" (as defined in WSOM Chapter A-99 and described below) for national distribution, changes in service area responsibility, and changes in organizational names or structures.

Changes to official and operational products and data include:

Any new products, product deletions, or changes to existing product formats outside existing flexibility of WSOM chapter policy.

Content at variance with allowable flexibility in current WSOM chapters.

Frequency of issuance and schedules.

Renumbering and/or reconfiguration of Universal Geographic Code (UGC) areas.

Revisions to other official data code formats or newly proposed codes.

Changes to National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) models, statistical methods, and graphics.

Changes to hourly or more frequently transmitted in-situ and remote weather observation data and products.

2.2 Local or Regional Service Changes. Changes authorized by field or regional management, as appropriate, include the following:

Changes to "official and operational products and data" allowed within WSOM chapter flexibility.

Changes to "official and operational products and data" whose distribution is confined to local partners, such as emergency managers, through local systems like the Local Data Acquisition and Dissemination capability in the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS).

3. Coordination. The goal of coordination is to provide for the consistent delivery of services. Responsibility for the coordination effort depends on the source of the proposed change.

Local and regional changes shall be communicated to the appropriate NWSH office so they can be aware of the activities.

Procedures for coordination of local and regional changes shall be determined by the regional headquarters (RH).

The following coordination procedures are for national changes.

If the originator is a Weather Forecast Office (WFO), Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) or River Forecast Center (RFC)...the field office management shall coordinate its proposal for change to the appropriate RH staff. The region shall contact the relevant NWSH service manager(s). The NWSH service manager(s) shall then coordinate with the other appropriate NWSH offices as well as with the regions and NCEP.

If the originator is one of the NCEP units...a coordinated proposal from the NCEP Director shall be sent to the relevant service manager(s) at NWSH. NWSH shall coordinate with appropriate NWSH offices as well as the RHs.

If the originator is an NWSH unit...the originating staff shall coordinate with other appropriate NWSH offices, the RHs, and NCEP.

All coordination activities shall include considerations of NWS workload and training, and consultation with the Committee on Analysis and Forecasting Techniques Implementation (CAFTI), the Data Review Group (DRG), the AWIPS Program Office (APO), and NWS customers and partners, as appropriate.

The DRG and the APO processors shall not take any implementation action (as described in section 5) until official agency authorization of the proposal for service change has been given.

CAFTI must formally concur with any proposed changes to scientific and technical support procedures and output, including numerical modeling and statistical output before authorization and implementation.

4. Authorizations. After thorough coordination leading to consensus, the responsible NWSH or RH personnel shall request authorization from the appropriate level of NWSH or RH management, as noted in sections 4.1 and 4.2, respectively. Authorization requests are made through proposed changes to WSOM chapters, Operations Manual Letters (OML) and Regional OMLs, Decision Memoranda, or draft Public Information Statements (PNS). If consensus cannot be reached on some issues, these should be noted along with what has been done to accommodate the concerns. Management shall approve, disapprove or request further clarification for a decision.

4.1 NWSH Management. Authorization of national service changes shall be obtained through the efforts of the appropriate NWSH service manager. The NWSH service manager, in consultation with his or her supervisor, determines the appropriate level of authorization. Major changes should be presented to the Assistant Administrator for Weather Services (AA) for approval. Major changes are those that require significant expenditure of resources, involve significant workload, or significantly alter or establish basic NWS service policies. Less significant changes, such as procedural modifications to zone boundaries, product formats and issuance times, may be authorized at a lower NWSH management level, as determined by the service manager and supervisor.

Before submission of major changes to AA, the NWSH service manager shall coordinate with the NWS General Counsel and the NWS Employees Organization (NWSEO) in accordance with established negotiating procedures.

4.2 RH Management. Local or regional changes listed in section 2.2 can be approved by the affected RH. Changes of regional or local scope are coordinated with regional or local NWSEO representatives through WFO/CWSU/RFC or RH management, in accordance with established negotiating procedures. RH management shall make the appropriate NWSH office aware of these changes.

5. Implementation Support Actions. After official authorization, the responsible service change personnel shall request any needed support actions from the entities described below. As mentioned in section 3, these entities should be contacted informally during the coordination process, as needed, but shall only take action after official authorization has been given.

DRG: The DRG is responsible for managing the database of World Meteorological Organization (WMO) headings and product identifiers for AWIPS, Family of Services (FOS), NOAAPORT, NOAA Weather Wire Service (NWWS) and Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN). The DRG provides authority to add and delete WMO headings and identifiers for service changes. These actions must be approved by the DRG before external notification of service changes.

As part of the DRG process, product data management messages (WMO heading NOXX10 KWBC - AWIPS ID PNSNMC) are issued regarding product headings and identifiers. These messages are for internal and external data inventory managers and do not describe in detail the nature of the related service change required by NWS customers and partners. They are not a substitute for the service notification message (see appendix A).

APO: The APO shall be informed of any product format change by the service change process team so that any needed changes to the AWIPS product formatters can be made ahead of time. Coordination with the APO shall be done through the appropriate AWIPS liaison(s) in other NWSH offices.

6. Notification and Implementation. After official authorization of the change and any formal requests for technical action are approved, notification to the public shall be made in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44USC 3501 et seq. and OMB Circular A-130.

Notification for additions, changes, and/or discontinuations to product headings and identifiers, UGCs, and/or product formats should have an advanced minimum lead time of 60 days before implementation. Other notification of changes, such as product issuance times, may be sent out with a 30-day notice. The date shall allow enough time for any needed internal technical actions described in section 5 to be completed beforehand. The implementation date shall be a normal business day and should normally not occur immediately before or after a weekend or holiday. This allows the relevant NWS service change process team members and affected partners to be available to resolve any implementation problems that may arise.

6.1 Official Notification. There are five methods of official notification. Electronic notification is always required. Additional methods may be used as appropriate. If a press release is to be issued, it shall precede all other notification methods used.

Electronic notification on NWWS, FOS, AWIPS, EMWIN and NOAAPORT (see appendix A).

Publication in the Federal Register, for major service changes.

Press releases and/or press conferences conducted by the NWS Office of Public Affairs for major service changes, in coordination with the service change process team.

NOAA Weather Radio messages.

U.S. mailings by appropriate NWSH program managers and affected offices of supplementary information, including any brochures, maps, or data and codes too voluminous to be included in the press release or electronic notification. Technical documents, such as Technical Procedures Bulletins, that further describe changes, should also be distributed by the cognizant NWSH personnel, as appropriate.

6.2 Internet Notification. Anytime after official notification, additional notification should be conveyed by

e-mail and Internet home pages as outlined below. Since the Internet is not a guaranteed delivery system, the following methods are considered to be unofficial for external notification.

E-mail: The appropriate notification focal point should e-mail service change notification messages back to the NWS originator of the message and/or appropriate RH and/or NWSH program manager(s); any other appropriate NWS officials at NWSH, WFOs, CWSUs, RFCs or NCEP affected by the changes; NWS communication systems managers; and an approved e-mail list of external NWS partners.

Recipients may further distribute the message, as they deem appropriate.

Internet home page posting: Service change notification messages and any supplementary information should be posted on the appropriate NWS home pages by the NWS notification focal point(s) or webmaster(s).

This is used for the following two types of change notification messages:

Service change notices for non-scientific products intended for the general public and/or entire user communities, such as marine, fire weather, etc.

Technical implementation notices in scientific products including numerical and statistical models, graphics, or observational systems (surface, radar, satellite, etc).

A draft notification message shall be prepared and reviewed by the cognizant service change personnel. The final draft shall then be submitted to the authorizing NWS management official, who will review and forward to the appropriate notification focal point for transmission.

Following are instructions for composing the notification message.

WMO Heading and AWIPS ID...For changes approved by NWSH, the notification message is transmitted under the WMO heading NOUS41 KWBC (AWIPS ID - PNSWSH). After issuance by the national NWSH notification focal point, affected WFOs, CWSUs, RFCs, NCEP or RH(s) may then reissue the notification under their own local PNS heading (NOUS4i CCCC - PNSCCC).

For changes authorized by RH or local management, the notification message need only be transmitted using the regional or local PNS heading.

Signatory...The signatory ("FROM" line) for the original issuance shall be the same authorizing manager, as described in section 4. The signatory in any reissuances of national or regional notification messages shall be a management official from a WFO, CWSU, RFC, NCEP or RH.

Style...Messages should conform with WMO communications standards. This means these messages will have the proper Mass News Dissemination section, be in capital letters, use ellipses (...) instead of commas, solidi (/) instead of parentheses,

1-inch top/bottom and left/right margins, left justification only, and 12 point "courier" font. To ensure a legible ASCII transmission, no word processing features are permitted except left tabs and indents. Acronyms shall be spelled out on first usage in the message. If the message significantly exceeds two pages, the message should be in multiple parts.

Content...The draft message should contain enough details to completely explain the service change. All necessary AWIPS IDs and WMO headings related to the service change shall be included. Also, an NWS contact (name, address, and telephone number) shall be provided in the message for questions or inquiries by the public. The NWS contact should be the person(s) who is in the best position to explain the meaning and ramifications of the change. For changes in policy affecting WFOs, CWSUs or RFCs on a regional or nationwide basis, the contact should be the appropriate NWSH or RH program manager. Changes at NCEP shall include an NCEP contact. Changes affecting a single WFO, CWSU or RFC or just a few such offices would include a contact from that office(s). Inclusion of e-mail and Internet home page addresses are also encouraged.

Wording...Care should be taken to avoid any terms or phrases suggesting a degradation of service. For example, in describing transfers or revisions to service, such words as "terminate," "discontinue" and "eliminate" should be avoided wherever possible. Instead, emphasize what will replace the prior service or product or emphasize alternative sources. Where appropriate, use words such as "improvement," "enhancement," "modernized" and "advanced."

Generic Message Format...Following is a generic example of a change notification message. Actual examples of most major categories of change notification messages are included at the end of this appendix.

NOUS4i CCCC

PNSCCC

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...(notice type and number)

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE (office and location)

XXXX XX DAY MON DD YEAR

TO (users of NWS dissemination systems)...OTHER NWS PRODUCT USERS...NWS EMPLOYEES

FROM (name of authorizing NWS manager and title)

SUBJECT (brief description of change and effective date)

(Text)

END

The notification focal point will convert the draft file to ASCII before transmission on AWIPS, NWWS, FOS, NOAAPORT and EMWIN.

(1) Example of public product change (format and content)

NOUS41 KWBC DDHHMM

PNSWSH

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC

215 PM EST FRI AUG 14 1998

TO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ EMPLOYEES...FAMILY OF

SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE

/NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS...OTHER NWS CUSTOMERS

FROM (Name of authorizing NWSH manager and title)

SUBJECT IMPLEMENTATION DATE OF NEW FORMAT OF WINTER STORM AND NON-PRECIPITATION WEATHER WATCHES/WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES...EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 15 1998

EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 15 1998 AT 0800 AM EDT /1200 UNIVERSAL COORDINATED TIME/...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ WILL IMPLEMENT THE NEW FORMAT FOR WINTER WEATHER WATCHES/WARNING AND ADVISORIES WITH A SEGMENTED FORMAT...AS DEPICTED BELOW. NOTE THAT THE DATE TIME GROUP IN EACH INDIVIDUAL SEGMENT HAS BEEN ELIMINATED.

THIS CHANGE AFFECTS THE FOLLOWING PRODUCT CATEGORIES:

PRODUCT WMO HEADING AWIPS ID

WINTER WEATHER - WWUS4(I) CCCC WSWCCC

NON-PRECIPITATION - WWUS7(I) CCCC NPWCCC

(I) IS A SINGLE DIGIT NUMBER DEPENDING OF THE OFFICE/S LOCATION

CCCC IS THE 4-DIGIT OFFICE ID AND CCC IS THE LAST THREE LETTERS OF THE OFFICE ID.

........................

UPDATED GENERIC FORMAT -

WMO HEADING

AWIPS ID

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE /OR WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE/

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE NAME ST

HHMM AM/PM LT DAY MTH DD YYYY

...OVERVIEW HEADLINE... /OPTIONAL/

.OVERVIEW WITH GENERAL INFORMATION /OPTIONAL/

STZXXX-XXX-XXX-DDHHMM-

COUNTIES INCLUDED-

CITIES INCLUDED- /OPTIONAL BY REGION OR AREAL DESCRIPTORS/

...HEADLINE TEXT...

TEXT

$$

STZXXX-XXX-DDHHMM-

COUNTIES INCLUDED-

CITIES INCLUDED- /OPTIONAL BY REGION OR AREAL DESCRIPTOR/

...HEADLINE TEXT...

TEXT

$$

ETC.

SURNAME /OPTIONAL/

........................

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS...PLEASE CONTACT

(name, address, telephone number of contact person - in this case an NWSH contact due to the nationwide scale of change)

...NOTE TO INTERNET USERS...

THIS AND ALL OTHER NWS SERVICE CHANGE NOTIFICATIONS ARE POSTED ON /URL/ IN SMALL CASE LETTERS.

END

(2) Example of public product change (transfer of service)

NOUS41 KWBC DDHHMM

PNSWSH

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 99-11

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC

1100 AM EST THU JAN 21 1999

TO FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER

WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS...OTHER NATIONAL

WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ CUSTOMERS..NWS EMPLOYEES

FROM (Name of authorizing NWSH manager and title)

SUBJECT FORECAST AND LONG-FUSED WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ZONES TRANSFERRED TO THE NEWPORT... NC /MHX/ WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE...MARCH 29 1999

EFFECTIVE AT 9 A.M. EASTERN STANDARD TIME /EST/... 1400 UNIVERSAL TIME COORDINATED /UTC/ MONDAY MARCH 29 1999 FORECAST AND LONG-FUSED WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORY RESPONSIBILITY FOR 17 ZONES IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA /TABLE 1/ WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE /WFO/ IN NEWPORT /MHX/ NORTH CAROLINA FROM THE RALEIGH-DURHAM /RDU/ NORTH CAROLINA WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE.

BECAUSE OF THIS FORECAST AND LONG-FUSED WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORY TRANSFER... CUSTOMERS MUST TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION TO RECEIVE THE PRODUCTS LISTED IN TABLE 2 FOR THESE 17 ZONES USING THE NEW PRODUCT IDENTIFIERS FROM WFO MHX.

TABLE 1: ZONES TRANSFERRED TO NEWPORT /MHX/ FOR FORECASTS AND LONG-FUSED WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES. UNIVERSAL GENERIC CODES /UGC/ FOR THESE ZONES /Z/ ARE SHOWN IN THE TABLE.

FROM RALEIGH-DURHAM /RDU/:

UGC Z ZONE NAME UGC Z ZONE NAME UGC Z ZONE NAME

CODE /BY COUNTY/ CODE /BY COUNTY/ CODE /BY COUNTY/

NCZ080- BEAUFORT NCZ095- CARTERET NCZ093- CRAVEN

NCZ103- EASTERN DARE NCZ047- WESTERN DARE NCZ090- DUPLIN

NCZ079- GREENE NCZ104- EASTERN HYDE NCZ081- WESTERN HYDE

NCZ092- JONES NCZ091- LENOIR NCZ029- MARTIN

NCZ098- ONSLOW NCZ094- PAMLICO NCZ044- PITT

NCZ046- TYRRELL NCZ045- WASHINGTON

TABLE 2: FOR THE 17 ZONES IN THIS STATE... THE FOLLOWING FORECAST AND LONG-FUSED WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORY INFORMATION WILL SWITCH TO FOUR NEW PRODUCT IDENTIFIERS FROM WFO MHX.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION NWWS ID WMO HEADING

ZONE FORECASTS FOR EASTERN NORTH /NEW/ RDUZFPMHX FPUS52 KMHX

CAROLINA */OLD/ RDUZFPNC FPUS52 KRAH

FLASH FLOOD WATCHES FOR EASTERN /NEW/ RDUFFAMHX WGUS62 KMHX

NORTH CAROLINA */OLD/ RDUFFARDU WGUS62 KRAH

NON-PRECIPITATION ADVSY/WATCH/WARNING /NEW/ RDUNPWMHX WWUS72 KMHX

FOR EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA */OLD/ RDUNPWRDU WWUS72 KRAH

WINTER STORM ADVSY/WATCH/WARNING /NEW/ RDUWSWMHX WWUS42 KMHX

FOR EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA */OLD/ RDUWSWRDU WWUS42 KRAH

* THESE OLD PRODUCTS WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST...BUT WILL COVER AREAS OUTSIDE THE MHX FORECAST AREA.

FOR HOLDERS OF WEATHER SERVICE OPERATIONS MANUAL CHAPTER C-11... APPENDIX A /ZONE FORECAST AREA MAPS/... THIS NOTICE UPDATES PAGES A-7 AND A-29.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS...PLEASE CONTACT

(Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of contact points, in this case from the affected WFOs)

...NOTE TO INTERNET USERS...

THIS AND ALL OTHER NWS SERVICE CHANGE NOTIFICATIONS ARE POSTED ON /URL/ IN SMALL CASE LETTERS.

END

(3) Example of public product change (revision to UGC)

NOUS41 KWBC DDHHMM

PNSWSH

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 99-05

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC

1130 AM EST TUE JAN 14 1999

TO FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS...OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ CUSTOMERS...NEW EMPLOYEES

FROM (Name of authorizing NWSH manager and title)

SUBJECT ADDITION OF UNIVERSAL GENERIC CODES TO MARINE FORECAST AREAS FOR SOUTHEAST ALASKA...EFFECTIVE JANUARY 25 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN JUNEAU WILL BE INCLUDING NEW UNIVERSAL GENERIC CODES /UGC/ IN THE MARINE FORECASTS FOR THE EASTERN GULF /OF ALASKA/ COAST AND SOUTHEAST ALASKA...EFFECTIVE JANUARY 25 1999 AT 1200 UNIVERSAL COORDINATED TIME...OR 300 AM ALASKA STANDARD TIME. THIS PRODUCT IS UNDER THE WMO HEADING FZAK61 PAJN AND THE NWWS ID OF JNUCWF061.

THE NEW UGCS WILL OFFICIALLY SEPARATE ZONES IN THIS COLLECTIVE AS FOLLOWS AND AS SHOWN IN THE GENERIC EXAMPLE BELOW.

UGC MARINE ZONE

PKZ111- LYNN CANAL AND GLACIER BAY

PKZ112- ICY STRAIT AND CROSS SOUND

PKZ113- STEPHENS PASSAGE...CHATHAM STRAIT...FREDERICK SOUND...SUMNER STRAIT...AND CLARENCE STRAIT

PKZ190- /EXTENDED FORECAST ZONE/

EXTENDED FORECAST FOR EASTERN GULF COAST AND SOUTHEAST AK

NOTE -- THE SYNOPSIS A WILL BE INCLUDED WITH THE GENERIC CODE PKZ110 AREA 1A AS IN THE GENERIC EXAMPLE.

GENERIC EXAMPLE:

FZAK61 PAJN 011200

CWF061

MARINE FORECAST FOR EASTERN GULF COAST AND SOUTHEAST AK

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JUNEAU AK

3 AM AST MON MO. 01 1999

FORECAST VALID TO 5 AM TUE AND OUTLOOK TO 5 AM WED.

DO NOT USE AFTER 3 PM.

PKZ110-020000-

AREA 1A. SOUTHEAST ALASKA INSIDE WATERS DIXON ENTRANCE TO SKAGWAY

SYNOPSIS A. ---SYNOPSIS TEXT FOR AREA 1A---

$$

PKZ111-020000-

LYNN CANAL

AND GLACIER BAY

---MARINE FORECAST TEXT FOR LYNN CANAL AND GLACIER BAY---

$$

PKZ112-020000-

ICY STRAIT

---MARINE FORECAST TEXT FOR ICY STRAIT---

CROSS SOUND

---MARINE FORECAST TEXT FOR CROSS SOUND---

$$

PKZ113-020000-

STEPHENS PASSAGE

AND CHATHAM STRAIT

AND FREDERICK SOUND

---MARINE FORECAST EXT FOR STEPHENS PASSAGE...CHATHAM STRAIT...AND FREDERICK SOUND---

SUMNER STRAIT

AND CLARENCE STRAIT

---MARINE FORECAST TEXT FOR SUMNER STRAIT AND CLARENCE STRAIT---

$$

PKZ120-020000-

AREA 1B. SOUTHEAST ALASKA OUTSIDE WATERS DIXON ENTRANCE TO

CAPE FAIRWEATHER

---MARINE FORECAST TEXT FOR AREA 1B---

$$

PKZ210-020000-

AREA 2A. EASTERN GULF COAST CAPE FAIRWEATHER TO CAPE SUCKLING

GALE WARNING

---MARINE FORECAST FOR AREA 2A---

$$

PKZ190-020000

EXTENDED FORECAST FOR EASTERN GULF COAST AND SOUTHEAST AK

FROM WED JAN 3 THROUGH FRI JAN 5

---EXTENDED FORECAST TEXT---

THE NEXT SCHEDULED FORECAST WILL BE ISSUED AT 3 PM AST MON.

$$

..........END OF GENERIC EXAMPLE.................

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS...PLEASE CONTACT

(Names, addresses, telephone numbers of contact points, in this case from the affected WFOs)

...NOTE TO INTERNET USERS...

THIS AND ALL OTHER NWS SERVICE CHANGE NOTIFICATIONS ARE POSTED ON /URL/ IN SMALL CASE LETTERS.

END

(4) Example of technical implementation change (NCEP model)

NOUS41 KWBC DDHHMM

PNSWSH

PUBLIC INFO. STATEMENT...TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICE 98-10

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC

915 AM EDT TUE JUN 2 1998

TO FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS...OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ CUSTOMERS...NWS EMPLOYEES

FROM (Name of authorizing NWSH manager and title)

SUBJECT CHANGES TO THE NATIONAL CENTERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION /NCEP/ OPERATIONAL "ETA" MODEL SYSTEM... EFFECTIVE JUNE 3 1998

AT 1500 UNIVERSAL COORDINATED TIME /UTC/ 03 JUNE 1998 A SERIES OF CHANGES TO THE OPERATIONAL MESO ETA MODEL SUITE AT NCEP WILL BE IMPLEMENTED. IN THE DESCRIPTION BELOW...ETA-32 REFERS TO THE 32KM GRID/45 LEVEL ETA MODEL...WHILE ETA-29 REFERS TO THE CURRENT 29KM GRID/50 LEVEL ETA MODEL RUNNING IN THE MESO RUN SLOT.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THESE CHANGES FOLLOWS. YOU CAN ACCESS TECHNICAL PROCEDURES BULLETIN /TPB/ NUMBER 447 AT HTTP://TGSV5.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/TPB/447.HTM /USING LOWER CASE/...WHICH DESCRIBES THE ETA-32...3-DIMENSIONAL VARIABLE ANALYSIS /3DVAR/ AND ETA DATA ASSIMILATION SYSTEM /EDAS/ CYCLING THAT WERE IMPLEMENTED 9 FEBRUARY IN THE 0000 UTC AND 1200 UTC EARLY RUN SLOT.

A/ OFF-TIME ETA-32 FORECASTS.

1/ THE 0300 UTC RUN OF THE ETA-29 /SO-CALLED "MESO" ETA/ WILL BE REPLACED BY A 0300 UTC RUN OF THE ETA-32. THIS FORECAST WILL BE THE SAME LENGTH AS THE ETA-29 FORECAST /33 HOURS/. THE 0300 UTC ETA-32 RUN WILL BE INITIALIZED BY A 3-HOUR ASSIMILATION STARTING AT 0000 UTC...AS IS NOW DONE FOR THE ETA-29 BUT WILL USE A 3DVAR AND WILL START FROM AN EDAS FIRST GUESS INSTEAD OF THE GLOBAL DATA ASSIMILATION SYSTEM /GDAS/.

2/ THE 1500 UTC RUN OF THE ETA-29 /SO-CALLED "MESO" ETA/ WILL BE REPLACED BY AN 1800 UTC RUN OF THE ETA-32. FORECAST LENGTH WILL BE 30 HOURS WITH THE 1800 UTC ANALYSIS PRODUCED BY A 6-HOUR EDAS RUN FROM 1200 UTC TO 1800 UTC.

3/ FORECAST PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTED FROM THE 0300 UTC ETA-32 RUN WILL BE IDENTICAL TO THOSE PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTED FROM THE ETA-29 WITH THE ONLY EXCEPTION THAT DURING HURRICANE SEASON THEIR AVAILABILITY MAY BE DELAYED. THE 1800 UTC ETA-32 FORECAST WILL CREATE FORECAST OUTPUT IDENTICAL TO THAT PRODUCED BY THE 1500 UTC ETA-29 RUN EXCEPT THAT IT WILL BE AVAILABLE 2 TO 3 HOURS LATER. THERE WILL BE NO FILENAME CHANGES ON THE OFFICE OF SYSTEMS OPERATIONS SERVER. CONSEQUENTLY...THE 'MESO' RUN FILE NAMES WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE THEIR CYCLE-TIME LABELED AS T00Z /ACTUALLY THE 0300 UTC RUN/ AND T12Z /ACTUALLY THE 1800 UTC RUN/.

B/ ANALYSIS CHANGES

1/ IN THE 9 FEBRUARY 1998 ETA IMPLEMENTATION...THE EDAS WAS MODIFIED TO RUN IN "PARTIAL" CYCLING MODE...IN WHICH SOIL PARAMETERS /TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE/...TURBULENT KINETIC ENERGY /TKE/...AND CLOUD WATER/ICE AT THE START OF EACH EDAS CYCLE IS INITIALIZED FROM THE PREVIOUS EDAS CYCLE...WHILE ATMOSPHERIC VARIABLES /TEMPERATURE...MOISTURE...WIND/ ARE OBTAINED FROM THE GDAS. WITH THIS IMPLEMENTATION THE EDAS WILL RUN IN FULL CYCLING MODE...WITH THE ATMOSPHERIC VARIABLES CYCLED FROM THE PREVIOUS EDAS IN ADDITION TO SOIL...TKE...AND CLOUD PARAMETERS.

2/ THE USE OF OPTIMUM INTERPOLATION IN THE MESO ETA ANALYSES HAS BEEN REPLACED EVERYWHERE BY THE USE OF A 3DVAR.

IF YOU HAVE FURTHER QUESTIONS...YOU MAY CONTACT

(Name, address, and telephone number of an NCEP contact person)

...NOTE TO INTERNET USERS...

THIS AND ALL OTHER NWS SERVICE CHANGE NOTIFICATIONS ARE POSTED ON /URL/ IN SMALL CASE LETTERS.

END

(5) Example of technical implementation change (aviation code)

NOUS41 KWBC DDHHMM

PNSWSH

NATIONAL TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION MESSAGES 98-12

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC

1245 PM EDT THU JUN 25 1998

TO ALL USERS OF AVIATION OBSERVATIONS AND AVIATION FORECASTS AND ALL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ OFFICES

FROM (Name of authorizing NWSH manager and title)

SUBJECT USA WEATHER CODE CHANGE FOR ICE PELLETS... EFFECTIVE 0000 UNIVERSAL COORDINATED TIME /UTC/ NOVEMBER 5 1998

EFFECTIVE 0000 UTC...NOVEMBER 5 1998 THE AVIATION ROUTINE WEATHER REPORT/AVIATION SELECTED SPECIAL WEATHER /METAR/SPECI/ CODE FORMATS USED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA /USA/ FOR REPORTING ICE PELLETS WILL CHANGE FROM "PE" TO "PL." NEW USA OBSERVING POLICY/PROCEDURES WILL REQUIRE THAT ONLY "PL" BE USED TO ENCODE ICE PELLETS STARTING NOVEMBER 5 1998. THIS CHANGE APPLIES TO ALL MANUAL OBSERVING STATIONS AND AUTOMATED OBSERVING STATIONS WHERE HUMAN AUGMENTATION IS PROVIDED FOR REPORTING ICE PELLETS. IT DOES NOT APPLY TO UNSTAFFED AUTOMATED OBSERVING STATIONS WHICH DO NOT/CANNOT REPORT ICE PELLETS.

THE DUAL CAPABILITY TO ENCODE ICE PELLETS AS EITHER "PE" OR "PL" WILL BE IMPLEMENTED AT OVER 100 STAFFED AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING SYSTEM /ASOS/ LOCATIONS FROM AUGUST 1998 TO OCTOBER 1998. ALTHOUGH THESE LOCATIONS WILL HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO TRANSMIT ICE PELLETS AS "PL"...THEY WILL BE INSTRUCTED TO ONLY USE "PE" UNTIL NOVEMBER 5 1998. FURTHERMORE...ALTHOUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION ON NOVEMBER 5 1998 IS PLANNED TO BE A FULLY COORDINATED "TURN-KEY" EVENT...THERE MAY STILL BE SOME OBSERVERS WHO DID NOT "GET THE WORD" AND MAY INCORRECTLY CONTINUE TO USE THE OBSOLETE "PE" CODE AFTER 0000 UTC...NOVEMBER 5 1998. ALL DELINQUENCIES WILL BE CORRECTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. AS A PRECAUTION...USERS WITH AUTOMATED DECODERS ARE URGED TO TAKE APPROPRIATE STEPS NOW TO RECOGNIZE BOTH "PE" AND "PL" IN THE METAR/SPECI CODE.

CONCURRENT WITH THE METAR/SPECI ICE PELLET CODE CONVERSION /PE TO PL/ AT 0000 UTC...NOVEMBER 5 1998...THE USA WILL ALSO CONVERT THE TERMINAL AERODROME FORECAST /TAF/ CODE FORMAT FOR ICE PELLETS FROM "PE" TO "PL." ALL USA TAFS WHICH ARE VALID ON OR AFTER 0000 UTC...NOVEMBER 5 1998 WILL USE PL WHEN REFERRING TO ICE PELLETS. AGAIN...AS A PRECAUTION...USERS WITH AUTOMATED DECODERS ARE URGED TO TAKE APPROPRIATE STEPS NOW TO RECOGNIZE BOTH "PE" AND "PL" IN THE TAF CODE AS WELL.

IN ADDITION...EFFECTIVE 0000 UTC...NOVEMBER 5 1998..."PL" WILL BE USED TO INDICATE ICE PELLETS IN USA SIGMETS...CONVECTIVE SIGMETS...DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL AREA FORECASTS...AND CENTER WEATHER SERVICE UNIT PRODUCTS /CENTER WEATHER ADVISORIES AND METEOROLOGICAL IMPACT STATEMENTS/.

ADDITIONAL UPDATED NOTICES WILL BE PROVIDED AS THE ICE PELLET CODE CHANGE IMPLEMENTATION DATE APPROACHES.

P.S. TO NWS OFFICES:

AFOS APPLICATIONS DECODERS SAODECII AND TAFDEC HAVE BEEN MODIFIED BY TDL TO RECOGNIZE BOTH "PE" AND "PL." THESE CHANGES WILL BE AVAILABLE TO NWS FIELD OFFICES THIS SUMMER. AN AWIPS DR WAS WRITTEN AND CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE PRELAMP CODE TO SUPPORT BOTH "PE" AND "PL" IN AWIPS BUILD 4.1.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS...PLEASE CONTACT

(name, address, telephone number of contact person - in this case an NWSH contact due to the nationwide scale of change)

...NOTE TO INTERNET USERS...

THIS AND ALL OTHER NWS SERVICE CHANGE NOTIFICATIONS ARE POSTED ON /URL/ IN SMALL CASE LETTERS.

END

(6) Example of technical implementation change (NCEP weather chart)

NOUS41 KWBC DDHHMM

PNSWSH

NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION MESSAGE 98-11

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC

400 PM EDT MON JUN 22 1998

TO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EMPLOYEES...DIFAX SUBSCRIBERS AND USERS OF RADAR SUMMARY CHART NMCGPH90S... FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS

FROM (Name of authorization NWSH manager and title)

SUBJECT NCEP OPERATIONS REMARKS STATUS BOX NO LONGER TO BE FOUND ON THE NWS NATIONAL RADAR SUMMARY CHART... EFFECTIVE JULY 23 1998. IT WILL CONTINUE TO BE SENT UNDER NOUS42 KWBC.

THIS MESSAGE IS FOR ALL NWS CUSTOMERS USING THE RADAR SUMMARY

CHARTS THAT ARE AVAILABLE UNDER THE NWS GRAPHIC ID... NMCGPH90S...AND ON DIFAX IN SLOTS D054 AND D164.

EFFECTIVE 1435 UTC...JULY 23...1998...THE STATUS BOX CONTAINING NCEP OPERATIONS REMARKS ON THE RADAR SUMMARY CHARTS WILL NO LONGER BE FOUND ON THE GRAPHIC CHART. THESE NCEP OPERATIONS STATUS BOXES ROUTINELY APPEAR ON 0235 UTC AND 1435 UTC NATIONAL RADAR SUMMARY CHARTS...AND APPEAR NON-ROUTINELY AT OTHER TIMES WHEN NCEP IS EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS.

A REMINDER MESSAGE CONCERNING THIS CHANGE WILL ALSO BE INCLUDED

IN THE STATUS BOX ON THE NATIONAL RADAR SUMMARY CHART BEGINNING

AT 0235 UTC ON JUNE 23...1998...AND AT OTHER TIMES BEFORE JULY

23...1998.

RADAR ECHOES... ITS DESCRIPTIONS... MOVEMENTS...ETC... WILL

CONTINUE TO BE NOTED ON THE CHART AS BEFORE AND NOW.

THOSE NCEP OPERATIONS STATUS MESSAGES INCLUDED INSIDE THE STATUS

BOX WILL CONTINUE TO BE SENT UNDER NOUS42 KWBC.

AT TIMES WHEN THE RADAR DATA BECOMES UNRELIABLE OR DEGRADED... AN

ABBREVIATED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR ON THE CHART DESCRIBING THE

CAUSE... FOR EXAMPLE... DATA DEGRADED... UNRELIABLE DATA... OR

SOME OTHER APPROPRIATE COMMENT THAT ARE RADAR DATA RELATED.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS CHANGE...

PLEASE CONTACT ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

(name, address, telephone number of contact person - in this case an NCEP contact)

...NOTE TO INTERNET USERS...

THIS AND ALL OTHER NWS SERVICE CHANGE NOTIFICATIONS ARE POSTED ON /URL/ IN SMALL CASE LETTERS.

END