PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
200 PM EST FRI MAR 25 1994
TO: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE (NWS) EMPLOYEES, FAMILY OF
SERVICES (FOS) SUBSCRIBERS, NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE
(NWWS) SUBSCRIBERS, OTHER NWS PRODUCT USERS
FROM: DONALD R. WERNLY, CHIEF, WARNING AND FORECAST BRANCH
SUBJECT: BOSTON (BOS), MASSACHUSETTS WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE'S SHORT-FUSE COUNTY WARNING AREA EXPANDS...
EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 1994.
Effective June 1, 1994 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the
National Weather Service (NWS) will transfer short-fuse warning
responsibility for four counties in central Massachusetts (Table
1) TO the Boston (BOS), Massachusetts Weather Service Forecast
Office (WSFO) at Taunton. Three counties will be transferred
FROM the Worcester (ORH), Massachusetts Weather Service Office
(WSO) and one county from the Hartford (BDL), Connecticut WSO.
For these counties, WSFO BOS will issue short-fuse warning
products (Table 2) and related products that give followup
information on the warnings (Table 3). For holders of NWS
Operations Manual Chapter C-47, County Warning Areas, this
transfer is the ninth (9th) update of the latest chapter
issuance.
Because of this county warning transfer, subscribers to the NOAA
Weather Wire Service (NWWS) and the Family of Services (FOS) must
take appropriate action to receive the short-fuse warnings and
related products for these four counties using the BOS identifier
(Tables 2 and 3) instead of the ORH or BDL identifier. For
example, if you have been receiving severe thunderstorm warnings
using the product identifier BOSSVRORH, you will have to change
your product identifier to BOSSVRBOS.
The Universal Generic Codes (UGC), however, will remain unchanged
(as shown in Table 1). Please note that because of county size,
these counties were split to allow our meteorologists to better
forecast for the areas. While the UGC County code for the entire
county has not changed, each county segment has its own unique
UGC ZONE code.
1. County UGC county UGC zone From To
code code
Franklin MAC011- MAZ002-& 003- ORH BOS
Hampshire MAC015- MAZ008-& 010- ORH BOS
Worcester MAC027- MAZ004-& 012- ORH BOS
Hampden MAC013- MAZ009-& 011- BDL BOS
2. The following are short-fuse warning products for the
four counties transferred to WSFO BOS. UGC county codes
are used in these products.
Warning product for AFOS/NWWS ID WMO HEADER
tornadoes BOSTORBOS WFUS1 KBOS
severe thunderstorms BOSSVRBOS WUUS1 KBOS
flash floods BOSFFWBOS WRUS1 KBOS
3. The following are key related products for the four
counties transferred to WSFO BOS. UGC zone codes are
used in these products.
Related products AFOS/NWWS ID WMO HEADER
special weather statement BOSSPSBOS WWUS35 KBOS
severe weather statement BOSSVSBOS WWUS34 KBOS
winter weather warnings BOSWSWBOS WWUS46 KBOS
non-precipitation warnings BOSNPWBOS WWUS45 KBOS
civil emergency message BOSCEMBOS MMUS40 KBOS
public info. statement BOSPNSBOS ABUS34 KBOS
short-term forecast BOSNOWBOS FXUS21 KBOS
flash flood statement BOSFFSBOS RWUS32 KBOS
local storm report BOSLSRBOS WWUS30 KBOS
Users should continue to receive products from WSFO BOS covering
longer-fuse events for these counties, including those from the
first six categories listed in Table 3.
If you have further questions, you may contact the following:
Andrew Woodcock, Meteorologist in Charge
National Weather Service Office, NOAA
Bradley International Airport
Windsor Locks, Connecticut 06096
(203) 627-3440
Glenn Field
National Weather Service Forecast Office, NOAA
445 Myles Standish Boulevard
Taunton, Massachusetts 02780-1081
(508) 823-1983
Tom Holmes, OIC
National Weather Service Office, NOAA
Municipal Airport Tower Building
Worcester, Massachusetts 01602
(508) 752-1046
END