Hi Ryan,
On Thu, Sep 3, 2026 at 3:33 PM Ryan May <rmay@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> ...it is very unsettling due to the lack of clarity about how the NWS
> intends to replace the open, realtime data distribution afforded by
> NOAAPORT.
>
Bare with me as there is a modest amount of hand-waving coming up...
I see this sentiment come up here and there, and say what you want about
lack of clarity with actionable statements, you'll get no argument from me
that those could improve. But what I think people are missing is NOAAPort
was never truly designed to serve anyone outside of NOAA. It is a service
by NOAA, for NOAA, that we were lucky enough to be able to tap into because
it was clear-air transmission. But "luck" is the wrong word... The work
Unidata and other parties laid out decades ago and have maintained since
was to bridge that service for Academia and others so not everyone had to
get a giant dish in their yards... but technically that's all anyone would
need for NOAAPort is the right kind of ear; that is the key element that is
changing. NOAAPort was always a private network, one technically available
to all others but barred for most.
AWIPS is moving to the cloud, the data is already there and with far
superior internet now compared to the '90s NOAA no longer needs that data
feed to be in the clear-air for themselves. Cutting partner access to data
feeds was never intended nor desired, just a result of no longer being
transmitted in the clear. Now while NOAA has maintained/improved the SBN
tech for their own offices & needs over the years, there was never any
obligation for NOAA to make its replacement clear-air and available to
anyone with only the right hardware. So now we can't simply listen in like
we could before, but it's still a private network just with hard access
restrictions due to being on a public internet.
The way I personally read the big picture here is Unidata had a seat at the
head of the table when the SBN/NOAAPort paradigm was established; it took a
lot of effort, conversations, collaborations but the result was a widely
available robust network of data coming from a NOAA feed, through the
bridges that Unidata has made and maintains, out to academia and beyond.
Now that NOAA will fully replace their previous network with one of a
different design those bridges will need to be rebuilt. But it was never
an obligation for NOAA to maintain those bridges to our communities, that
is traditionally where Unidata came in.
All of that is to say the following: I don't believe the NWS intends to
replace this real-time push network that we have gotten used to beyond
their own needs. It was never really open in the first place, and it is
Unidata's bridges and on-ramps that made it available to us at all. It
will be up to us to build and design new bridges, new on-ramps and new
workflows for ourselves... with NWS/NOAA's help of course. But waiting
will be a death sentence.
> This will certainly be discussed during Unidata's Community Advisory
> Committee (CAC) meeting next week. We're also happy to partner with others
> as we all try to smoothly migrate to a post-NOAAPORT world.
>
I would like to request if you could get a representative from NODD to join
the CAC meetings moving forward. I know it's likely too short notice for
that this fall, but between more and more data sets moving to under their
control, and other opportunities that could come from their inclusion here,
I think it would be very helpful if that's possible.
Best,
-Mike
Cheers,
>
> Ryan
>
> -------
> Dr. Ryan May
> Deputy Director
> NSF Unidata
> Boulder, CO
>
> On Tue, Sep 1, 2026 at 3:20 PM Sebenste, Gilbert <sebensteg@xxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>> If you haven’t heard, now you know. It says we are to wait for how the
>> information will be disseminated in the future. But what will that look
>> like? How will that impact me and our weather.cod.edu website? How will
>> it affect all of you?
>> How long will we have a parallel test to make sure that we can get the
>> data we need and process it locally? How can I plan when I literally do not
>> know what to plan for?
>>
>> I have so many questions….
>>
>> NOUS41 KWBC 011655 PNSWSH
>>
>> Public Information Statement 26-63
>> National Weather Service Headquarters Silver Spring MD
>> 1255 PM EDT Tue Sep 1 2026
>> To:
>>
>> From:
>>
>> Subscribers: -NOAA Weather Wire Service -Emergency Managers Weather
>> Information Network -NOAAPort Other NWS Partners and Employees
>>
>> George Jungbluth, Director Mission, Systems and Technology
>>
>> Subject: Soliciting initial comments, through September 21, 2026, on
>> planned retirement of the Satellite Broadcast Network (SBN)/NOAAPort and
>> NOAA Weather Wire Service (NWWS) Satellite as early as August 31, 2027.
>>
>> The NWS is modernizing its infrastructure and dissemination services by
>> transitioning to cloud-based services. This initiative will enhance
>> operational efficiency, increase reliability, and provide scalability for
>> future growth. As part of this modernization, the NWS will retire the
>> Satellite Broadcast Network (SBN), commonly referred to as NOAAPort.
>> Retirement of the SBN will also terminate the satellite-based NOAA Weather
>> Wire Service (NWWS), which uses SBN channel 201 to deliver data. The
>> internet-based NWWS Open Interface (NWWS-OI) will continue to operate. We
>> are assembling information about alternative data sources and will provide
>> it as soon as possible.
>>
>> NOAAPORT users are encouraged to provide feedback via this feedback form
>> https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NOAAPortSBN2026 by September 21, 2026.
>> While the feedback form is preferred, users can also send comments and
>> questions to: nws.webfeedback@xxxxxxxx
>>
>> Stakeholder feedback will be used to help NWS plan the follow-on
>> dissemination systems to NOAAPort to ensure continuity of data and services
>> to users. The NWS will send an updated statement once the feedback is
>> processed and we have additional information to share. National Public
>> Information Statements are online at:
>>
>> https://www.weather.gov/notification/
>>
>> NNNN
>>
>>
>>
>> Gilbert Sebenste
>>
>> Meteorology Support Analyst
>>
>>
>> _________________________________________________________
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>
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