000 ABPZ20 KNHC 151140 TWOEP TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 500 AM PDT FRI MAY 15 2009 FOR THE EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC...EAST OF 140 DEGREES WEST LONGITUDE.. TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. TODAY MARKS THE FIRST DAY OF THE EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC HURRICANE SEASON...WHICH WILL RUN UNTIL NOVEMBER 30. LONG-TERM ANNUAL AVERAGES OF TROPICAL STORMS AND HURRICANES IN THIS BASIN ARE 15 AND 9 RESPECTIVELY. THE LIST OF NAMES FOR 2009 IS AS FOLLOWS: NAME PRONUNCIATION NAME PRONUNCIATION ------------------------------------------------------------- ANDRES AHN DRASE- MARTY BLANCA BLAHN- KAH NORA CARLOS OLAF OH- LAHF DOLORES PATRICIA ENRIQUE ANH REE- KAY RICK FELICIA FA LEE- SHA SANDRA GUILLERMO GEE YER- MO TERRY HILDA VIVIAN IGNACIO EEG NAH- CIO WALDO JIMENA HE MAY- NA XINA ZEE- NAH KEVIN YORK LINDA ZELDA ZEL- DAH THIS PRODUCT...THE TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK...BRIEFLY DESCRIBES SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF DISTURBED WEATHER AND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. BEGINNING THIS YEAR...THE OUTLOOK WILL ALSO CONTAIN CATEGORICAL PROBABILITIES OF FORMATION...I.E. LOW...LESS THAN 30 PERCENT...MEDIUM...30 TO 50 PERCENT...OR HIGH...GREATER THAN 50 PERCENT FOR EACH DISTURBANCE DESCRIBED. THE ISSUANCE TIMES OF THIS PRODUCT ARE 5 AM...11 AM...5 PM...AND 11 PM PDT. AFTER THE CHANGE TO STANDARD TIME IN NOVEMBER...THE ISSUANCE TIMES ARE 4 AM...10 AM...4 PM...AND 10 PM PST. IN PREVIOUS YEARS...THE SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENT COULD BE ISSUED AT ANY TIME TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT DISTURBANCES IN BETWEEN ISSUANCES OF THE TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK. THE SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENT HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED AND WILL NO LONGER BE ISSUED. INSTEAD...A SPECIAL TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED TO PROVIDE UPDATES...AS NECESSARY...IN BETWEEN THE REGULARLY SCHEDULED ISSUANCES OF THE TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK. SPECIAL TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOKS WILL BE ISSUED UNDER THE SAME WMO AND AWIPS HEADERS AS THE REGULAR TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOKS. A STANDARD PACKAGE OF PRODUCTS...CONSISTING OF THE TROPICAL CYCLONE PUBLIC ADVISORY...THE FORECAST/ADVISORY...THE CYCLONE DISCUSSION...AND A WIND SPEED PROBABILITY PRODUCT...IS ISSUED EVERY SIX HOURS FOR ALL ONGOING TROPICAL CYCLONES. IN ADDITION...A SPECIAL ADVISORY PACKAGE MAY BE ISSUED AT ANY TIME TO ADVISE OF SIGNIFICANT UNEXPECTED CHANGES OR TO MODIFY WATCHES OR WARNINGS. THE TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE IS A BRIEF STATEMENT TO INFORM OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN A TROPICAL CYCLONE OR TO POST OR CANCEL WATCHES OR WARNINGS. IT IS USED IN LIEU OF OR PRECEDING THE ISSUANCE OF A SPECIAL ADVISORY PACKAGE. TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATES...WHICH CAN BE ISSUED AT ANY TIME...CAN BE FOUND UNDER WMO HEADER WTPZ61-65 KNHC...AND UNDER AWIPS HEADER MIATCUEP1-5. ALL NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER TEXT AND GRAPHICAL PRODUCTS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT WWW.NHC.NOAA.GOV USERS WILL NOTICE A SLIGHT CHANGE TO REFERENCES TO THE SAFFIR- SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE IN NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER PUBLIC PRODUCTS THIS YEAR. EVEN THOUGH THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE CATEGORY (1-5) IS DETERMINED SOLELY BY THE HURRICANE'S MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WIND SPEED...THE SCALE TRADITIONALLY HAS ALSO INCLUDED STORM SURGE RANGES AND FLOODING REFERENCES. ON AN EXPERIMENTAL BASIS FOR THE 2009 TROPICAL CYCLONE SEASON...THESE STORM SURGE RANGES AND FLOODING REFERENCES WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE DESCRIPTIONS FOR EACH CATEGORY. WITH THIS MODIFICATION...THE SCALE HAS BEEN RENAMED THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE. THERE HAVE BEEN NO CHANGES TO THE WIND SPEED THRESHOLDS OF THE SCALE. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS EXPERIMENTAL CHANGE AND ON HOW TO PROVIDE COMMENTS...PLEASE SEE /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/INFOSERVICECHANGES/SSHWS.PDF $$ FORECASTER BROWN/FRANKLIN/PASCH