Implementation of a New Marine Weather Warning Bulletin by NWS

1. Implementation of a New Marine Weather Warning Bulletin by NWS 24th Conference on IIPS – Session 7A Applications in Meteorology, Oceanography, Hydrology and Climatology 88th AMS Annual Meeting January 23, 2008 Mark Tew National Marine Weather Program Leader Office of Climate, Water and Weather Services National Weather Service Contributing Authors: Greg Mann, Ernie Jillson, Sven Nelaimischkies & Richard May

2. Watch / Warning / AdvisoryHow does the rest of NWS do it? • Hydrological Program– (FFA/FLW/FLS) • Flood Watch • Flood Warning • Flood Advisory • Coastal Hazards Program – (CFW) • Coastal Flood Watch • Coastal Flood Warning • Coastal Flood Advisory • Winter Weather Program – (WSW) • Winter Weather Watch • Winter Weather Warning • Winter Weather Advisory • Non-Precipitation Program –(NPW) • Non-Precipitation Watch • Non-Precipitation Warning • Non-Precipitation Advisory New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

3. Current Marine Warning Program Long Duration Events • No Marine Weather Watch Products • No Marine Weather Warning Bulletin • Marine Hazards Headlined in three forecast products • Coastal Waters Forecast (CWF) • Great Lakes Nearshore Forecast (NSH) • Great Lakes Open Lake Forecast (GLF) • Valid Time Event Code (VTEC) in CWF & NSH • No VTEC in GLF • Similar to issuing Blizzard Warnings using the ZFP New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

4. Small Craft Advisory in CWF SC.Y in VTEC String ANZ532>534-030815- /O.CON.KLWX.SC.Y.0071.060603T1200Z-060604T0100Z/ CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM SANDY POINT TO NORTH BEACH- CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM NORTH BEACH TO DRUM POINT- CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM DRUM POINT TO SMITH POINT- 423 PM EDT FRI JUN 2 2006 ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING... .TONIGHT...S WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. WAVES 2 FT. SHOWERS AND TSTMS. VSBY 1 TO 3 NM. .SAT...SW WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. WAVES 3 FT. SHOWERS LIKELY WITH A CHANCE OF TSTMS. VSBY 1 TO 3 NM. .SAT NIGHT...N WINDS 15 TO 20 KT EARLY IN THE EVENING...DECREASING TO 10 TO 15 KT. WAVES 3 FT. …etc. New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

5. Marine Weather Warning Bulletin • Serve as a dedicated long duration marine Watch, Warning and Advisory product • Similar to the WSW/NPW/CFW • Issued for coastal areas and Great Lakes • Provide marine community more specificity and vital marine hazard information • Better inform mariners of adverse marine weather hazards • Issued as MWWxxx AWIPS ID, where xxx is the WFO New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

6. Partner Acceptance • MWW Proposal endorsed by National Partners • Presented at Partners Meeting in June 2006 & 2007 • Prefer VTEC in one hazard product like WSW & NPW • Problems decoding VTEC in two forecast products • Both contain “ROU” codes • MWW Supported by Great Lakes Users – Feb 07 • Lake Carriers Association & International Ship Masters • USCG Ninth District • MWW would improve the dispatching of ships for search and rescue operations • Provide more meteorology (the why) for staff briefings • MWW Endorsed by National Marine Constituents (25 reps) • Presented at Marine Constituents Meeting in Oct 25, 2007 • US Navy – Wants the MWW implemented ASAP, especially for coastal waters near Norfolk, VA • AccuWeather – Wants the MWW implemented nationwide ASAP, even if it is experimental New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

7. Requirements and Test Plan • Chartered MWW Improvement Team • Developed Requirements and Project Plan • MWW Formatter • Developed by Greg Mann, SOO at WFO Detroit • Prototype transfer of field development to AWIPS baseline • Expedite product implementation • Establish MWW Test Sites • Five sites in Aug, 12 sites today • Issue experimental MWW with “E” VTEC • Continue operational VTEC in CWF and NSH • Evaluation of MWW Products • Provide demonstration results and customer feedback • Target – AWIPS OB8.3 for Implementation in Fall 2008 New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

8. MWW Hazards • New Marine Watches • Hurricane Force Wind Watch • Storm Watch • Gale Watch • Hazardous Seas Watch • Heavy Freezing Spray Watch • Marine Warnings • Hurricane Force Wind Warning • Storm Warning • Gale Warning • Hazardous Seas Warning • Heavy Freezing Spray Warning New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

9. MWW Hazards - Continued • Marine Advisories • Ashfall Advisory • Brisk Wind Advisory • Dense Fog Advisory • Dense Smoke Advisory • Freezing Spray Advisory • Low Water Advisory • Small Craft Advisory • Small Craft Advisory for Hazardous Seas • Small Craft Advisory for Rough Bar • Small Craft Advisory for Winds New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

10. Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) FCC Requirement “The Order requires EAS participants to accept messages using Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)…to ensure the efficient and rapid transmission of EAS alerts to the American public in a variety of formats (including text, audio and video) and via different means (broadcast, cable, satellite, and other networks) and to promote the development of Next Generation EAS.” Federal Communications Commission Announcement May 31, 2007 http://www.eic.org/docs/FCCCAPEASnotice.pdf New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

11. NWS CAP Actions • Proposal • Add set of “Instruction markers” in WMO-formatted text W/W/A and follow-up statement products generated by AWIPS • MWW Bulletin Used as CAP Experiment • Instructions markers added to MWW Formatter • Inserted around the MWW Call to Actions • Served as a NWS CAP prototyping/risk reduction effort • MWW CAP Test Result • Modify the NWRWaves software – ignore instruction tags • Make minor adjustments to the instruction tag requirements • MWW is the first NWS text product to contain CAP instruction tags • All other NWS Warning bulletins scheduled to contain CAP instruction tags in AWIPS OB9 New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

12. WHUS76 KMFR 091500 MWWMFR EXPERIMENTAL...URGENT – MARINE WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR 700 AM PST FRI MAR 9 2007 ...GALE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM PST THIS EVENING... .WINDS WILL INCREASE LATE THIS MORNING AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING STRONG COLD FRONT THAT WILL REACH THE COAST BY LATE AFTERNOON. SOUTH WINDS WILL INCREASE TO GALES LATE THIS MORNING. AFTER THE FRONT PASSES THROUGH THE WATERS WINDS WILL BECOME NORTHWEST AND DIMINISH BELOW GALES TO SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY WINDS. PZZ350-356-370-376-092300- /E.NEW.KMFR.GL.W.0001.070309T1600Z-070310T0500Z/ COASTAL WATERS FROM FLORENCE TO CAPE BLANCO OR OUT 20 NM COASTAL WATERS FROM CAPE BLANCO OR TO PT. ST. GEORGE CA OUT 20 NM WATERS FROM FLORENCE TO CAPE BLANCO OR FROM 20 TO 60 NM WATERS FROM CAPE BLANCO OR TO PT. ST. GEORGE CA FROM 20 TO 60 NM- 705 AM PST FRI MAR 9 2007 ...GALE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM PST THIS EVENING... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEDFORD HAS ISSUED A GALE WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM THIS EVENING. SOUTH WINDS WILL INCREASE LATE THIS MORNING AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT...WITH EXPECTED WINDS OF 35 TO 40 KT WITH GUSTS TO 45 KT. WINDS WILL BECOME NORTHWEST AND DIMINISH BELOW GALES BEHIND THE FRONT LATE THIS EVENING. <INSTRUCTION> A GALE WARNING MEANS WINDS OF 34 TO 47 KNOTS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING. OPERATING A VESSEL IN GALE CONDITIONS REQUIRES EXPERIENCE AND PROPERLY EQUIPPED VESSELS. IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT MARINERS WITHOUT THE PROPER EXPERIENCE SEEK SAFE HARBOR PRIOR TO THE ONSET OF GALE CONDITIONS. </END INSTRUCTION> $$ THIS PRODUCT DOES NOT INCLUDE INFORMATION ON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES. SEE PRODUCTS SUCH AS SPECIAL MARINE WARNINGS... MARINE WEATHER STATEMENTS...WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATIONS AND THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK. Start CAP Instruction Tag End CAP Instruction TAG Temporary Disclaimer

13. MWW WFO Test Sites • BRO – Brownsville, TX • HGX – Houston, TX • JAX – Jacksonville, FL • MLB – Melbourne, FL • MIA – Miami, FL • TAE – Tallahasee, FL • LCH – Lake Charles, LA • SGX – San Diego, CA • SJU – San Juan, PR –New MWW Test Sites by spring 2008 • BUF – Buffalo, NY • CAR – Caribou, ME • CHS – Charleston, SC • DTX – Detroit, MI • GRR – Grand Rapids, MI • IWX – Northern Indiana • HFO – Honolulu, HI • LOT – Chicago, IL • MFR – Medford, OR • MOB – Mobile, AL • MKX – Milwaukee, WI • TBW – Tampa Bay, FL New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

14. Marine Weather Warning BulletinSummary • New warning bulletin for long duration marine hazards (e.g., Gale and Storm Warnings) • Provide first ever Marine Watches • Thirteen WFOs issuing product today • Expand to 21 coastal WFOs by spring 2008 • National implementation: Oct 1, 2008 • First NWS warning product with Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) capability • Exception Alaska Region WFOs and Pago Pago New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

15. Early MWW Success Stories • Hurricane Force Wind Event along Oregon Coast – Dec 3, 2007 • Produced severe wind damage to Oregon coastal communities • WFO Medford used the MWW to issued 1st ever Storm Watch • Upgraded to a Hurricane Force Wind Warning • Provided the coastal community with advanced lead time • Kept crabbing vessels in port • Helped prompt Coos County schools to close ahead of the storm • Dense Fog Event for Charleston and Savanna Harbors • WFO Charleston, SC used the MWW to issue 1st ever Dense Fog Advisory for both harbors on Dec 10-12, 2007 • Harbor officials utilized the MWW in their decision to close harbor ship traffic for two nights • Decision based on sensitivities to recent harbor incident in San Francisco Bay • Resulted in significant impact to shipping commerce • Charleston and Savannah Harbors are the second and third busiest on the East Coast New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

16. MWW: Serve to Advance the NWS Mission New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

17. The End Questions or Comments? http://www.weather.gov/os/mww New NWS Marine Weather Warning Bulletin

18. MWW Key Milestones