NOUS41 KWBC DDHHMM
PNSWSH
Service Change Notice 11-19
National Weather Service Headquarters Washington DC
1242 PM EDT Wed Apr 27 2011
TO:Subscribers:
-Family of Services
-NOAA Weather Wire Service
-Emergency Managers Weather Information Network
-NOAAPORT
Other NWS partners and NWS employees
FROM:Eli Jacks
Chief, Fire and Public Weather Services Branch
SUBJECT:Changes to the Boundaries of Fire Weather Forecast
Zone 201, the Craig Forecast Area, Including Moffat,
Routt and Rio Blanco Counties, CO; and Zone 205, the
Montrose Forecast Area, Including Delta, Gunnison ,
Montrose, San Miguel, Ouray, and Northern Hinsdale
Counties, CO, Effective June 7, 2011
Effective Tuesday, June 7, 2011, at 1200 Coordinated Universal
Time (UTC), the NWS Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Grand
Junction (GJT), CO, will split the Craig Forecast Area (COZ201)
intothree new fire weather forecast zones, and the Montrose
Forecast Area (COZ205) into four new fire weather forecast zones.
This change will improve fire weather forecast services for WFO
GJT’s fire weather partners and users by better associating zone
areaswith weather regimes and terrain.
The split of COZ201, Craig Forecast Area, will create new fire
weatherzones for the mountainous terrain of the Park and Gore
Mountain Ranges and the Flat Top Wilderness (new COZ201 - Routt); the
lower elevation terrain in northern Moffat County (COZ200 Little Snake)
and the plateau area of Rio Blanco and Garfield counties (COZ202 White
River).
The split of COZ205, Montrose Forecast Area, will create new fire
weather forecast zones for the mountainous terrain of the
northwestSan Juan mountains and Uncompahgre Plateau (COZ291, Northern
San Juan), the lower valleys of Delta and eastern
Montrose counties (COZ292, North Fork), the Paradox Valley area
ofwestern Montrose and San Miguel counties (COZ290, Paradox
Valley) and the mountainous terrain of the West Elk Mountains
(COZ293, Gunnison Basin).
Once this change has been implemented, the fire weather forecast
zonenumbers, names and geographical descriptors in Table 1 will
beused in all fire weather forecast products issued by WFO GJT.
This change does not affect WFO GJT public weather forecast zones or
products.
Table 1:New and Old WFO GJT Fire Weather Forecast Zones
New FireNew FireOld FireOld Fire
Weather ZoneWeather ZoneWeather ZoneWeather Zone
NumberNameNumberName
----------------------------------------------------
COZ200Little SnakeCOZ201Craig Forecast
Area
COZ201RouttCOZ201Craig Forecast
Area
COZ202White River COZ201Craig Forecast
Area
COZ290Paradox Valley COZ205Montrose
Forecast Area
COZ291Northern SanCOZ205Montrose
JuanForecast Area
COZ292North Fork COZ205Montrose
Forecast Area
COZ293Gunnison Basin COZ205Montrose
Forecast Area
Table 2:New Zone Descriptors
New Zone COZ200 - Little Snake
COZ200 Physical Description:This zone consists of that portion
ofMoffat County north of state highway 40, except for the higher
elevations in the extreme northeast part of the county, in northwest
Colorado.
New Zone COZ201 - Routt
COZ201 Physical Description:This zone is defined as Routt
County, the Elkhead Mountains in extreme northeast Moffat County, and
higher elevations in extreme eastern Rio Blanco County, east of highway
13, in northwest Colorado.
New Zone COZ202 - White River
COZ202 Physical Description:This zone is defined as that part
ofMoffat County south of highway 40, and the plateau areas of
Rio Blanco County , west of highway 13, in northwest Colorado .
New Zone COZ290 - Paradox Valley
COZ290 Physical Description:This zone consists of the Paradox
Valley area of western Montrose and San Miguel Counties .
New Zone COZ291 - Northern San Juan
COZ291 Physical Description:This zone is defined as the
northernportion of the San Juan Mountains within Ouray and
easternSan Miguel Counties , and the Uncompahgre Plateau within
northwestOuray and western Montrose Counties .
New Zone COZ292 - North Fork
COZ292 Physical Description:This zone is defined as Uncompahgre and
North Folk of the Gunnison River basins in Delta, eastern Montrose, and
extreme western Gunnison Counties, in western
Colorado .
New Zone COZ293 - Gunnison Basin
COZ293 Physical Description:This zone is defined as the
Gunnison Basin within Delta and Gunnison Counties in western
Colorado
Graphical depictions of the old and new fire weather forecast
zonesare online at:
http://www.weather.gov/os/notification/images/gjt2.png
http://www.weather.gov/os/notification/images/gjt1.png
Table 3: NWS fire weather watch, warning and forecast products
affectedby these changes
PRODUCTWMO HEADINGAWIPS ID
------------------------------------------
Fire Weather WatchWWUS85 KGJTRFWGJT
Red Flag Warning WWUS85 KGJTRFWGJT
Fire Weather PlanningFNUS55 KGJTFWFGJT
Forecast
National Fire DangerFNUS85 KGJTFWMGJT
Rating System Forecast
NWS partners and users will need to make necessary changes to
theircommunication systems to accommodate these fire weather
forecastzone changes.
A shapefile of the new fire weather forecast zones for WFO GJT
isavailable for download at:
www.nws.noaa.gov/geodata/catalog/wsom/html/firezone.htm
<http://www.nws.noaa.gov/geodata/catalog/wsom/html/firezone.htm>
For more information, please contact:
James Pringle
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
National Weather Service
Grand Junction, CO 81506-6844
970-243-7007
james.pringle@xxxxxxxx <mailto:james.pringle@xxxxxxxx>
National Service Change Notices are online at:
http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm
$$
NNNN
--
Linda Miller - lmiller@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Community Services, Unidata
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307-3000
303-497-8646 fax: 303-497-8690
