PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
FRI JAN 23 1998
TO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ EMPLOYEES...FAMILY OF
SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/
SUBSCRIBERS...OTHER NWS CUSTOMERS
FROM DONALD R. WERNLY...CHIEF...CUSTOMER SERVICE
SUBJECT SHORT-FUSE SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES TO TAKE ON A NEW LOOK... EFFECTIVE APRIL 1
1998
BEGINNING APRIL 1 1998 AT 600 AM CST / 1200 UNIVERSAL TIME COORDINATED
OR UTC/...SHORT FUSE SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS ISSUED BY NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES WILL BE ISSUED WITH A /BULLET STYLE/ FORMAT
INSTEAD OF THE FULL NARRATIVE VERSION USED IN PREVIOUS YEARS.
THIS FORMAT ALLOWS CRITICAL INFORMATION TO STAND OUT IN A STANDARD
SEQUENTIAL FASHION ON INDIVIDUAL LINES...SEPARATED BY A BLANK LINE.
THE NEW APPEARANCE MAKES IT EASIER TO REVIEW AND READ THE WARNING
QUICKLY.
NO PRODUCT IDENTIFIER/HEADER CHANGES AND NO UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHIC CODE
CHANGES ARE REQUIRED BY NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/
CUSTOMERS...FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ CUSTOMERS...OR OTHER NWS
CUSTOMERS. HOWEVER...SOME TELEVISION STATIONS...POSSIBLY INCLUDING
CABLE TELEVISION...WILL NEED TO ENSURE EQUIPMENT USED TO GENERATE A
CRAWL WILL ACCOMMODATE THE NEW WARNING FORMAT.
THE SHORT-FUSE WARNING PRODUCTS AFFECTED ARE
SHORT-FUSE WARNING PRODUCT NWWS ID + WMO HEADER FOR FOS
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING CCCSVRXXX + WUUS1 KXXX
TORNADO WARNING CCCTORXXX + WFUS1 KXXX
FLASH FLOOD WARNING CCCFFWXXX + WRUS1 KXXX
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING CCCSMWXXX + WMUS1 KXXX
+ WMO HEADERS SUBJECT TO CHANGE SOMETIME IN SPRING 1998. NOTICES FOR
WMO HEADER CHANGES ARE AVAILABLE AT THE FOLLOWING WORLD WIDE WEB SITE
/USE LOWER CASE/
HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OSO/NOTICES/NOTICES.SHTML
CONTENT OF THE WARNINGS WILL REMAIN THE SAME...ONLY THE THEIR
APPEARANCE WILL CHANGE. IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE...BULLETS WILL CONTAIN
THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION...
* TYPE OF WARNING AND LOCATION OF AREA WARNED * VALID TIME
* TIME OF EVENT...BASIS FOR WARNING...MOVEMENT * PATHCAST
/OPTIONAL/
NWS OFFICES PARTS OF THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN U.S. HAVE BEEN
EXPERIMENTING WITH SUCH BULLET FORMATS DURING THE PAST YEAR. WITH THIS
NOTIFICATION...ALL NWS OFFICES WILL ADOPT A STANDARDIZED...BULLET
STYLE FORMAT.
IN GENERIC FORM...THE FORMAT IS AS FOLLOWS...
CCCNNNXXX /NWWS ID WITH NNN = TOR...SVR...FFW... OR SMW/ TTAA00
KXXX DDHHMM /WMO HEADER + DATE/UTC TIME OF MESSAGE/ NNNXXX
/ADDITIONAL HEADER INFORMATION FOR WMO/FOS/ SSCFFF-FFF-ETC.-DDHHMM-
/UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHIC CODE USING
COUNTY FIPS /FFF/ NUMBER/S/ AND
WARNING EXPIRATION DATE/UTC TIME/
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
/TYPE OF WARNING/
/LOCATION OF NWS OFFICE/
HHMM /AM/PM EST/EDT/CST/CDT/MST/MDT/PST/PDT/ DAY MON DD YYYY
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN /LOCATION/ HAS ISSUED A
* /TYPE OF WARNING/ FOR...
/COUNTY/PARISH/INDEPENDENT CITY/ IN /PORTION OF STATE/ /UP TO 5
COUNTIES/PARISHES/INDEPENDENT CITIES ALLOWED/
* UNTIL /HHMM AM/PM
AST/ADT/EDT/EST/CST/CDT/MST/MDT/PST/PDT/
* /AT HHMM AM/PM /LOCAL TIME...AS ABOVE/.../BASIS OF
WARNING/
* THE /TYPE OF SEVERE PHENOMENA/ WILL BE NEAR...
/LOCALITY/ AT HHMM /LOCAL TIME...AS ABOVE/ /LOCALITY/ AT HHMM /LOCAL
TIME...AS ABOVE/
/CONCLUDING NARRATIVE WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...SPOTTER
REPORTS...AND CALL-TO-ACTION./
IF YOU HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS...PLEASE CONTACT
WILLIAM ALEXANDER DONALD WERNLY...CHIEF CUSTOMER
OFFICE OF METEOROLOGY W/OM11 SERVICE
1325 EAST WEST HWY... SSMC2 SAME ADDRESS SILVER SPRING MD 20910
PH. 301-713-0090 EXT. 115 PH. 301-713-0090 EXT. 138
...NOTE TO INTERNET USERS...
THIS AND ALL OTHER PENDING NWS SERVICE CHANGE NOTIFICATIONS ARE
AVAILABLE ON THE NWS OFFICE OF METEOROLOGY/S HOME PAGE IN THE
NOTIFICATION SECTION. THE ADDRESS OF THE NOTIFICATION SECTION /IN
SMALL CASE LETTERS/ IS
HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/NOTIF.HTM
END