20060719: NDFD-Fwd: ADMIN NOTICE NOUS41 KWBC]

[Linda Miller]

-------- Original Message --------

207 
NOUS41 KWBC 191906
PNSWSH

TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICE 06-51
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
308 PM EDT WED JUL 19 2006

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:      GLENN AUSTIN
           DIGITAL SERVICES TRANSITION MANAGER
           OFFICE OF CLIMATE WATER AND WEATHER SERVICES

SUBJECT:   CHANGE IN TIME THE NWS NATIONAL DIGITAL FORECAST 
           DATABASE /NDFD/ IS EXTENDED BY 24 HOURS: EFFECTIVE 
           NOVEMBER 28 2006

NDFD IS DESIGNED TO BE FREQUENTLY REFRESHED. FORECAST ELEMENTS 
ARE GENERATED AND REVISED AT THE LOCAL WEATHER FORECAST OFFICES 
AND NATIONAL CENTERS. THESE FORECASTS ARE PROCESSED CENTRALLY 
AND MADE AVAILABLE IN SEVERAL FORMATS VIA NDFD. REVISED 
FORECASTS FOR UP TO SEVEN DAYS ARE CURRENTLY MADE AVAILABLE NEAR 
THE TOP OF EACH HOUR. THE FORECAST DATABASE IS CURRENTLY 
EXTENDED BY 24 HOURS ONCE A DAY AT 1800 COORDINATED UNIVERSAL 
TIME /UTC/.

BEGINNING NOVEMBER 28 2006...THE TIME THE NATIONAL DIGITAL 
FORECAST DATABASE IS EXTENDED BY 24 HOURS WILL CHANGE FROM 1800 
UTC TO 2200 UTC.  THIS CHANGE WILL ALLOW NWS FORECASTERS TO 
ASSIMILATE THE MOST RECENT FORECAST MODELS AND NATIONAL CENTERS 
GUIDANCE AND TO COLLABORATE WITH OTHER NWS OFFICES.  THE RESULT 
WILL BE MORE ACCURATE AND MORE COHERENT FORECASTS ACROSS THE 
COUNTRY.  NWS IS MAKING THIS CHANGE AS PART OF OUR ONGOING 
SERVICE IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS.

THE CHANGE ON NOVEMBER 28 2006 APPLIES TO ALL ELEMENTS IN THE 
NDFD - OPERATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL - AND ALL DOMAINS /THE 
CONTIGUOUS U.S. /CONUS/...THE 16 PRE-DEFINED CONUS SUBSECTORS... 
HAWAII...GUAM...AND ALASKA/.

THIS CHANGE AFFECTS USERS WHO PULL NDFD ELEMENT FILES IN GRIDDED 
BINARY /GRIB2/ FORMAT FROM THE NWS FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL /FTP/ 
SERVER...EITHER VIA THE INTERNET OR VIA THE FAMILY OF SERVICES 
SERVER ACCESS SERVICE.  THE CHANGE ALSO AFFECTS USERS WHO ACCESS 
NDFD IN EXTENSIBLE MARKUP LANGUAGE /XML/ VIA WEB SERVICE.  THIS 
CHANGE DOES NOT AFFECT USERS OF NDFD WEB GRAPHICS.
     
THERE ARE NO NEW WMO HEADINGS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CHANGE. 
HOWEVER USERS THAT KEY ON WMO HEADINGS WITHIN THE GRIB2 ELEMENT 
FILES MUST PROPERLY IDENTIFY HEADINGS ACCORDING TO FORECAST DAY.  
FOR EXAMPLE GRIDS DESIGNATED AS DAY 2 FORECASTS IN THE WMO 
HEADING WILL NOT CHANGE TO A DAY 1 DESIGNATION UNTIL 2200 UTC 
EACH DAY ON AND AFTER NOVEMBER 28 2006.

IF NOVEMBER 28 2006 IS A CRITICAL WEATHER DAY...THIS 
IMPLEMENTATION MAY BE POSTPONED. USERS WILL BE NOTIFIED OF THAT 
DECISION AS FAR IN ADVANCE AS POSSIBLE.

RELATIONSHIP TO CHANGES SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 6 2006:

EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 6 2006...NDFD FORECASTS FOR DAYS 1 THROUGH 3 
WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE HOURLY SHORTLY AFTER THE TOP OF EACH 
HOUR.  FORECASTS FOR DAYS 4 THROUGH 7 WILL BE POSTED ABOUT 15 
MINUTES BEFORE THE HOUR AT 4 TIMES PER DAY...AT 0000 UTC...0600 
UTC...1200 UTC...AND 1800 UTC.  STARTING ON NOVEMBER 28 2006...A 
FIFTH UPDATE TIME FOR DAYS 4 THROUGH 7 WILL BE ADDED AT 2200 
UTC.  FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CHANGE EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 
6 2006... SEE TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICES /TINS/ 06-39 AND 
06-30/.

USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK BY USING THE BRIEF 
SURVEY AND COMMENT FORM AVAILABLE ONLINE AT /USE LOWER CASE 
LETTERS/:
  
     HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SURVEY/NWS-SURVEY.PHP?CODE=TCSWP

FOR GENERAL QUESTIONS REGARDING THE NDFD...PLEASE EMAIL:

     NWS.NDFD at NOAA.GOV

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON NDFD...REFER TO THE FOLLOWING WEB 
PAGES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS FOR ALL URLS BELOW/:

CONTENT OF AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESSING THE NDFD IN EITHER 
GRIB2 FORMAT OR XML:

     HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/NDFD/TECHNICAL.HTM
     HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/XML/

FOR NDFD GRAPHICS:
    
     HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/FORECASTS/GRAPHICAL/SECTORS/

OPERATIONAL STATUS OF ALL NWS NDFD ELEMENTS:
    
    HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/NDFD/RESOURCES/OPER_STATUS_TABLE.PDF

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE...PLEASE CONTACT:

     CHRIS ALEX
     DIGITAL SERVICES
     NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
     OFFICE OF CLIMATE WATER AND WEATHER SERVICES
     1325 EAST WEST HIGHWAY
     SILVER SPRING MARYLAND 20910
     EMAIL:  CHRISTINE.ALEX at NOAA.GOV

IF YOU HAVE TECHNICAL QUESTIONS REGARDING THE NDFD DATA...PLEASE 
CONTACT:

     DAVID RUTH
     CHIEF...MESOSCALE PREDICTION BRANCH
     NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
     OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
     1325 EAST WEST HIGHWAY
     SILVER SPRING MARYLAND 20910
     EMAIL:  DAVID.RUTH at NOAA.GOV

THIS AND ALL OTHER NWS TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICES ARE 
POSTED AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:

HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/NOTIF.HTM

$$


-- 
Linda Miller - lmiller at unidata.ucar.edu
Community Services, Unidata
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307-3000
303-497-8646 fax: 303-497-8690 


==============================================================================
To unsubscribe nws-changes, visit:
http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/mailing-list-delete-form.html
==============================================================================