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NOUS41 KWBC 201953
PNSWSH
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 01-15
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
300 PM EST TUE MAR 20 2001
TO: FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER
WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ CUSTOMERS...OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE /NWS/ CUSTOMERS AND PERTNERS...NWS EMPLOYEES
FROM: JAMES E. LEE
CHIEF...FIRE AND PUBLIC WEATHER SERVICES BRANCH
SUBJECT: INTRODUCTION AND TESTING OF THE VALID TIME EVENT CODE
AT THE ABERDEEN SD FORECAST OFFICE...EFFECTIVE
MAY 22 2001
EFFECTIVE TUESDAY MAY 22 2001 AT 7 A.M. CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME
/CDT/...1300 UNIVERSAL COORDINATED TIME /UTC/... THE WEATHER
FORECAST OFFICE IN ABERDEEN SOUTH DAKOTA WILL BEGIN INCLUDING THE
VALID TIME EVENT CODE /VTEC/ IN WINTER WEATHER /WSW/ AND NON-
PRECIPITATION WEATHER /NPW/ MESSAGES...AS WELL AS SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM /SVR/ AND TORNADO /TOR/ WARNINGS /SEE TABLE 1/.
TABLE 1: MESSAGES FROM THE ABERDEEN SD OFFICE WHICH WILL CONTAIN
THE VTEC CODE.../W/W/A STANDS FOR WATCHES..WARNINGS...OR
ADVISORIES/
MESSAGE TYPE WMO HEADING AWIPS ID
NON-PRECIPITATION W/W/A WWUS73 KABR NPWABR
WINTER WEATHER W/W/A WWUS43 KABR WSWABR
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WUUS53 KABR SVRABR
TORNADO WARNING WFUS53 KABR TORABR
/END OF TABLE 1/
THIS TEST WILL BE CONTINUOUSLY EVALUATED...WITHOUT A PLANNED
ENDING DATE. IF ANY SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS ARISE...THE TEST WILL
BE DISCONTINUED. THE TEST WILL ALLOW THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE TO ENSURE THAT THE PROGRAMS WHICH CREATE THE VTEC RUN
CORRECTLY AND ALSO ALLOW EXTERNAL CUSTOMERS TO DETERMINE WAYS TO
UTILIZE THE VTEC IN THEIR DISSEMINATION AND NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS.
THE VTEC SPECIFIES THE CONTENT OF EACH MESSAGE SO THAT CUSTOMERS
CAN USE AUTOMATED PROGRAMS TO READ...PROCESS...AND REDISTRIBUTE
MESSAGES /OR PORTIONS OF MESSAGES/ WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION.
A VTEC STRING WILL BE LOCATED DIRECTLY BELOW THE UGC LINE/S/ IN
EACH WSW...NPW...SVR...AND TOR PRODUCT FROM THE ABERDEEN SD
OFFICE...WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MESSAGES ISSUED ON BEHALF OF
ABERDEEN BY SURROUNDING OFFICES ACTING IN A BACKUP CAPACITY.
SEE TABLE 2 FOR A KEY OF THE VTEC ELEMENTS. FOR A DESCRIPTION OF
THE CODE AND ALL ELEMENTS...SEVERAL PRODUCT EXAMPLES...AND
IMPLEMENTATION PLANS...PLEASE SEE THE INTERNET SITE /USE LOWER
CASE/:
HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/VTEC/VTEC.PDF
ALL CUSTOMERS SHOULD TEST THEIR DISSEMINATION SYSTEM/S/ TO ENSURE
THE TEST VTEC LINE/S/ DOES NOT ADVERSELY IMPACT THE SYSTEMS/ BY
MAY 22 2001.
VTEC FORMAT:
HERE IS THE GENERIC FORMAT OF ONE VTEC STRING TO DESCRIBE A
SINGLE EVENT /EACH WATCH...WARNING...OR ADVISORY IS ACCOMPANIED
BY A VTEC STRING...SO TWO WARNINGS IN ONE SEGMENT WOULD BE
ACCOMPANIED BY TWO VTEC STRINGS/.
/AAA.CCCC.PP.S.####.DBHHMM-DEHHMM/
AAA.CCCC.PP.S.#### DESCRIBES EACH WEATHER EVENT AND
DBHHMM-DEHHMM DESCRIBES THE VALID BEGINNING AND ENDING TIME OF
THE EVENT
TABLE 2. KEY TO VTEC ELEMENTS
AAA - ACTION CODE /E.G. NEW FOR NEW ISSUANCE/
CCCC - OFFICE ID /I.E. KABR FOR THE ABERDEEN SD OFFICE/
PP - PHENOMENA CODE /E.G. BZ FOR BLIZZARD/
S - SIGNIFICANCE CODE /E.G. W FOR WARNING/
#### - EVENT TRACKING NUMBER /I.E. 0005 FOR THE FIFTH ISSUANCE OF
A SPECIFIC WATCH...WARNING...OR ADVISORY/
DBHHMM - EVENT BEGINNING DATE/TIME GROUP IN UTC
DEHHMM - EVENT ENDING DATE/TIME GROUP IN UTC
VTEC DELIMITERS:
/ - BEGINS AND ENDS EACH VTEC STRING
. - SEPARATES VTEC ELEMENTS
EXAMPLE SHOWING THE UGC AND VTEC FOR ONE WSW EVENT:
_________________________________________________________________
WWUS43 KABR 050400
WSWABR
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
1100 PM EST FRI FEB 4 2000
...DISCUSSION...
SDZ007-011-019-020-022-050400-
/CAN.KABR.BZ.W.0001.000000-050400/
CLARK-CODINGTON-DAY-HAMLIN-MARSHALL-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WEBSTER...WATERTOWN...BRITTON...
CLARK...HAYTI
...REST OF MESSAGE...
_________________________________________________________________
INTERPRETATION: THE ABERDEEN SD OFFICE /KABR/ISSUED A WSW
CANCELING /CAN IN THE CODE/ A BLIZZARD /BZ/ WARNING /W/
..EFFECTIVE AT 0400 UTC ON THE FIFTH. IT WAS THE FIRST BLIZZARD
WARNING /0001/ FROM THIS OFFICE FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR. SINCE THE
BLIZZARD WARNING WAS VALID BEFORE THIS MESSAGE WAS ISSUED...THE
BEGINNING DATE/TIME IS LISTED AS 000000.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS... PLEASE CONTACT
WILLIAM TALLMAN GEORGE MARSHALL
METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST
PHONE: 605-225-6173 PHONE: 605-225-0519
WILLIAM.TALLMAN@xxxxxxxx GEORGE.MARSHALL@xxxxxxxx
824 BROWN CO 14 SOUTH
ABERDEEN SD 57401
THIS NOTICE AND OTHER SERVICE CHANGE NOTICES CAN BE FOUND ON THE
INTERNET AT /USE LOWER CASE/:
HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/NOTIF.HTM
END
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