339
NOUS41 KWBC 201412
PNSWSH
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
1030 AM EDT FRI AUG 20 2004
TO: FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER
WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS...EMERGENCY MANAGERS
WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK /EMWIN/ SUBSCRIBERS...
NOAAPORT SUBSCRIBERS...OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
/NWS/ CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS...AND NWS EMPLOYEES
FROM: DEIRDRE R. JONES
CHIEF...SYSTEMS ENGINEERING CENTER
NWS OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SUBJECT: VALID TIME EVENT CODE /VTEC/ AND WATCH BY COUNTY /WBC/
OPERATIONAL TEST AND EVALUATION /OTE/
REFERENCE: SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 04-40 TRANSMITTED JULY 1 2004
SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 04-45 TRANSMITTED AUGUST 2 2004
SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 04-51 TRANSMITTED AUGUST 18 2004
A COMBINED VALID TIME EVENT CODE /VTEC/ AND WATCH BY COUNTY /WBC/
OPERATIONAL TEST AND EVALUATION /OTE/ IS SCHEDULED TO RUN FROM
AUGUST 30 2004 TO OCTOBER 15 2004. TO HELP ENSURE SUFFICIENT TEST
DATA... THE OTE WILL RUN ONE WEEK LONGER INTO OCTOBER THAN
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED. IN PREPARATION FOR THE OTE...ON AUGUST 26
2004...THE OFFICES PARTICIPATING IN THE OTE WILL TURN ON VTEC.
THIS MEANS OPERATIONAL AND TEST PRODUCTS CONTAINING EXPERIMENTAL
VTEC STRINGS WILL BE ISSUED BY SELECTED NWS WEATHER FORECAST
OFFICES /WFO/ AND THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER /SPC/ STARTING
AUGUST 26 2004. IN ADDITION... ALL OFFICES PARTICIPATING IN THE
VTEC OTE WILL BEGIN USING A SEGMENTED FORMAT FOR FLOOD
WATCHES /FFA/...FLOOD WARNINGS /FLW/ AND FLOOD STATEMENTS /FLS/
/THIS INCLUDES FLOOD ADVISORIES/. NOTE THAT FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS
/FFW/ AND FOLLOWUP STATEMENTS /FFS/ WILL REMAIN UNCHANGED /NON-
SEGMENTED/ THROUGH THE OTE.
NWS OFFICES LISTED IN TABLE 1 ARE SCHEDULED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE
VTEC OTE... AND THOSE LISTED IN TABLE 2 ARE SCHEDULED TO
PARTICIPATE IN THE WBC OTE.
THE PURPOSE OF THE OTE IS TO DETERMINE THE OPERATIONS
EFFECTIVENESS AND SUITABILITY OF SYSTEMS UNDER REALISTIC
CONDITIONS AND TO DETERMINE IF SPECIFIED MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE
OPERATION PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN SATISFIED. THE VTEC-
WBC OTE ALSO GIVES NWS CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO
CHECK SOFTWARE DECODING AND PROCESSING SYSTEMS BEFORE VTEC
OPERATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION.
THE OTE OF VTEC FUNCTIONALITY WILL DEMONSTRATE AND VALIDATE THE
NWS READINESS TO RELEASE OPERATIONAL MESSAGES WITH THE VTEC STRING
IMPLEMENTED. THE OTE OF WBC FUNCTIONALITY WILL DEMONSTRATE AND
VALIDATE THE NWS READINESS TO RELEASE THE WBC SUITE OF OPERATIONAL
PRODUCTS.
THE VTEC-WBC OTE IS DESCRIBED IN FURTHER DETAIL IN THE VTEC-WBC
OTE TEST PLAN... INCLUDING TEST OBJECTIVES... ASSUMPTIONS AND
LIMITATIONS... AND TEST CONDUCT AND ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES.
THE VTEC-WBC OTE TEST PLAN HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE VTEC WEB SITE
/URL GIVEN NEAR THE END OF THIS MESSAGE/.
TABLE 1. LIST OF VTEC OTE OFFICES
NWS ALASKA REGION HQTRS AK
/WILL ONLY ISSUE TEST PRODUCTS AND USE WFO ANCHORAGE COMMS ID/
WFO FLAGSTAFF AZ
WFO PHOENIX AZ
WFO SAN DIEGO CA
WFO JACKSONVILLE FL
WFO MELBOURNE FL
WFO TALLAHASSEE FL
WFO TAMPA FL
NWS PACIFIC REGION HQTRS HI
/WILL ONLY ISSUE TEST PRODUCTS AND USE WFO HONOLULU COMMS ID/
WFO DES MOINES IA
WFO BOISE ID
WFO DETROIT MI
WFO PHILADELPHIA/MOUNT HOLLY NJ
WFO LAS VEGAS NV
WFO CHARLESTON SC
WFO CHEYENNE WY
WFO RIVERTON WY
TABLE 2. LIST OF WBC OTE OFFICES
WFO BOISE ID
WFO WICHITA KS
WFO LAKE CHARLES LA
WFO KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
WFO ST LOUIS MO
WFO SPRINGFIELD MO
WFO BILLINGS MT
WFO GLASGOW MT
WFO GREAT FALLS MT
WFO NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
WFO RALEIGH NC
WFO WILMINGON NC
WFO NORMAN OK
SPC NORMAN OK
WFO CHARLESTON SC
WFO COLUMBIA SC
WFO FORT WORTH TX
WFO HOUSTON TX
AFTER THE COMPLETION OF THE OTE... THERE WILL BE A JOINT NWS/NWS
PARTNER ASSESSMENT OF VTEC. A PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT WITH
THE FINAL IMPLEMENTATION DECISION FOR VTEC WILL BE ISSUED BY
NOVEMBER 9 2004.
VTEC IS DESCRIBED IN FURTHER DETAIL IN NWS INSTRUCTION 10-1703
AVAILABLE ON THE NWS DIRECTIVES WEB SITE AND THROUGH A LINK ON THE
VTEC WEB SITE. MORE BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON VTEC AND WBC CAN
ALSO BE FOUND AT THESE WEB SITES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:
HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OS/VTEC
HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OS/WATCH/
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON VTEC-WBC OTE OR THE NWS IMPLEMENTATION
OF VTEC... PLEASE CONTACT:
DEIRDRE JONES...CHIEF HERB WHITE
NWS SYSTEMS ENGINEERING OR DISSEMINATION SERVICES
CENTER MANAGER
SILVER SPRING MARYLAND SILVER SPRING MARYLAND
PHONE: 301-713-0629 EXTX 105 301-713-0090 EXT. 146
E-MAIL: DEIRDRE.R.JONES@xxxxxxxx HERBERT.WHITE@xxxxxxxx
IF YOU HAVE WBC QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...PLEASE CONTACT:
RICHARD OKULSKI
NWS SEVERE WEATHER PROGRAM LEADER
SILVER SPRING MD
PHONE: 301-713-1867 EXT. 114
E-MAIL: RICHARD.OKULSKI@xxxxxxxx
THIS AND OTHER VTEC UPDATE NOTICES ARE POSTED ON THE VTEC WEB PAGE
SHOWN ABOVE.
$$
NNNN
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------