Service Change Notice

Service Change Notice (Text)

NOUS41 KWBC 061355 PNSWSH Service Change Notice 11-40 National Weather Service Headquarters Washington DC 915 AM EST Tue Dec 6 2011 To: Subscribers: -Family of Services -NOAA Weather Wire Service -Emergency Managers Weather Information Network -NOAAPORT Other NWS Partners, Users and Employees From: Therese Z. Pierce Chief, Marine and Coastal Services Branch Subject: Changes in Offshore Waters Marine Zones For the Caribbean and Southwest North Atlantic And the Gulf of Mexico Effective April 3, 2012 Effective Tuesday April 3, 2012 at 200 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) or 1800 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch (TAFB) of the National Hurricane Center will reconfigure its marine zones for the offshore waters in the Caribbean and Southwest North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Currently there are five (5) marine zones covering the Caribbean and Southwest North Atlantic and four (4) marine zones covering the Gulf of Mexico. These zones will be reconfigured into twenty-four (24) marine zones to cover the Caribbean and Southwest North Atlantic and eight (8) zones to cover the Gulf of Mexico. Marine observations, local effects, and substantial customer feedback all indicate that the current configuration of marine zones does not adequately address the local effects and does not provide enough detail for the marine community. This reconfiguration will serve to improve the precision of marine warnings, forecasts, and other services by allowing forecasters to be more area specific. Table 1 lists the current marine zones and corresponding UGCs for which TAFB issues forecasts and warnings. Table 2 lists the marine zones and corresponding Universal Geographic Codes (UGC) for which TAFB will issue forecasts and warnings effective April 3, 2012. Table 3 lists all of the products issued by TAFB that will be affected by the marine zone changes. Table 1. Current marine zones and corresponding UGCs which TAFB issues forecasts and warnings: Current Marine Zone Name Current UGC Synopsis for the SW N Atlc including the AMZ088 Bahamas SW N Atlantic S of 31N W of 65W AMZ080 including Bahamas Synopsis for the Caribbean Sea and Tropical AMZ089 N Atlc from 07N to 22N between 55W and 65W NW Caribbean N of 15N W of 75W AMZ082 SW Caribbean S of 15N W of 75W AMZ084 Caribbean E of 75W to the AMZ086 Windward and Leeward Islands Tropical N Atlantic from 07N to 22N AMZ087 between 55W and 65W Synopsis for the Gulf of Mexico GMZ089 NW Gulf N of 25N W of 90W including the GMZ080 Flower Garden Banks Marine Sanctuary SW Gulf S of 25N W of 90W GMZ082 Middle Gulf between 85W and 90W GMZ084 E Gulf between 81W and 85W GMZ086 Table 2. Marine zones and corresponding UGCs for which TAFB will issue forecasts and warnings effective April 3, 2012: New Marine Zone Name NEW UGC Synopsis for Caribbean Sea and Tropical AMZ001 N Atlantic from 07N to 22N between 55W and 65W Caribbean N of 18N W of 85W including AMZ011 Yucatan Basin Caribbean N of 18N between 76W and 85W AMZ013 including Cayman Basin Caribbean approaches to the Windward Passage AMZ015 Gulf of Honduras AMZ017 Caribbean from 15N to 18N between 80W AMZ019 and 85W Caribbean from 15N to 18N between 72W AMZ021 and 80W Caribbean N of 15N between 64W and 72W AMZ023 Offshore Waters Leeward Islands AMZ025 Tropical N Atlantic from 15N to 19N between AMZ027 55W and 60W W Central Caribbean from 11N to 15N W of 80W AMZ029 Caribbean from 11N to 15N between 72W AMZ031 and 80W including Colombia Basin Caribbean S of 15N between 64W and 72W AMZ033 including Venezuela Basin Offshore Waters Windward Islands including AMZ035 Trinidad and Tobago Tropical N Atlantic from 07N to 15N between AMZ037 55W and 60W Southwest Caribbean S of 11N including AMZ039 Approaches to the Panama Canal Synopsis for the SW N Atlantic including AMZ101 the Bahamas Atlantic from 27N to 31N W of 77W AMZ111 Atlantic from 27N to 31N between 70W and 77W AMZ113 Atlantic from 27N to 31N between 65W and 70W AMZ115 Bahamas including Cay Sal Bank AMZ117 Atlantic from 22N to 27N E of Bahamas to 70W AMZ119 Atlantic from 22N to 27N between 65W and 70W AMZ121 Atlantic S of 22N W of 70W including AMZ123 Approaches to the Windward Passage Atlantic S of 22N between 65W and 70W AMZ125 including Puerto Rico Trench Atlantic from 19N to 22N between 55W and 65W AMZ127 Synopsis for the Gulf of Mexico GMZ001 NW Gulf including Stetson Bank GMZ011 N Central Gulf including Flower Garden Banks GMZ013 Marine Sanctuary NE Gulf N of 25N E of 87W GMZ015 W Central Gulf from 22N to 26N W of 94W GMZ017 Central Gulf from 22N to 26N between 87W GMZ019 and 94W Gulf from 22N to 25N E of 87W including GMZ021 Straits of Florida SW Gulf S of 22N W of 94W GMZ023 E Bay of Campeche including Campeche Bank GMZ025 To view graphical images of the current marine zones and the proposed marine zones for which TAFB will issue forecasts and warnings effective April 3, 2012 go to the following web site: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/scn/marine/2011/marine_zones/examples.html Table 3. TAFB products affected by the marine zone changes effective April 3, 2012: Product Name WMO Heading AWIPS ID Offshore Waters Forecast FZNT23 KNHC OFFNT3 Offshore Waters Forecast FZNT24 KNHC OFFNT4 Miami NAVTEX Forecast FZNT25 KNHC OFFN04 San Juan NAVTEX Forecast FZNT26 KNHC OFFN05 New Orleans NAVTEX Forecast FZNT27 KNHC OFFN06 Customers must reprogram affected hardware and software to continue correctly processing the products listed in Table 3. Also customers using a graphical representation of these zones must download an updated marine zone map shapefile to correctly depict the marine forecast areas for the Caribbean and southwest North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico offshore waters. An updated marine zone map shapefile containing the new zones is available for download from the following website: www.nws.noaa.gov/geodata/catalog/wsom/html/marinezones.htm The NAVTEX forecasts will be reconfigured to limit coverage to within 200 nm of the coasts assigned to each transmitter. Specifically, the forecast area for the New Orleans transmitter will cover the northern Gulf of Mexico from the Suwanee River, FL to the mouth of the Rio Grande, out 200 nm. The Miami NAVTEX forecast area will cover the waters around the peninsula of Florida from Suwanee River on the Gulf Coast, to Flagler Beach on the Atlantic Coast, out 200 nm. The San Juan forecast area will cover the waters within 200 nm of the San Juan transmitter, to include the Mona Passage and part of the Anegada Passage. This reconfiguration will better conform to the range of the transmitters, provide more detailed information along the immediate coast, and better meet broadcast time constraints. For more information, including maps of the new NAVTEX areas, please refer to the following website: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/experimental/offshores/navtex.php In order to better meet the time constraints for voice broadcast via the U.S. Coast Guard, two new products will be made available as listed in Table 4. These products will combine forecasts for the 32 zones in such a way that they will be similar to the Offshore Waters Forecasts before reconfiguration. Table 4. Future Product Headers for USCG Voice Broadcasts: Product Name WMO Heading AWIPS ID Broadcast Text for the FZNT31 KNHC MIAOFFN20 Caribbean and Southwest North Atlantic Broadcast Text for the Gulf FZNT32 KNHC MIAOFFN21 Of Mexico If you have any questions or comments about this reconfiguration of TAFB offshore waters marine zones please contact: Hugh D. Cobb Richard May Chief, TAFB NWS Headquarters National Hurricane Center Marine Services 11691 SW 17th Street 1325 East-West Highway Miami, FL 33165-2149 Silver Spring, MD 20910 305-229-4454 301-713-1677 x 127 Hugh.Cobb@noaa.gov Richard.May@noaa.gov National Weather Service Change notices are posted at: http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm $$

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Service Change Notice (Text)