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-------- Original Message --------
286
NOUS41 KWBC 262059
PNSWSH
Service Change Notice 13-16
National Weather Service Headquarters Washington DC
400 PM EST Tue Feb 26 2013
To: Subscribers:
-Family of Services
-NOAA Weather Wire Service
-Emergency Managers Weather Information Network
-NOAAPORT
Other NWS partners and NWS employees
From: Mary Mullusky
Chief, Hydrologic Services Branch
Subject: New Display of Automated Flood Warning Systems (AFWS)
Web Pages Effective on or before March 31, 2013
On March 31, 2013, the NWS Automated Flood Warning System (AFWS)
Web Pages currently displaying stream gage and precipitation will
be discontinued
http://afws.erh.noaa.gov/afws/
On or before March 31, 2013, this information will be integrated
into the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) Website.
AFWS stream gage information will be fully integrated with all
other AHPS stream gage observations and can be accessed at
http://water.weather.gov
with capabilities to view the information at the national, state,
Weather Forecast Office (WFO), River Forecast Center or Water
Resources Region scale. AFWS precipitation information can be
accessed at
http://water.weather.gov/afws/
with capabilities to view at the national, state, Weather
Forecast Office, River Forecast Center or Water Resources Region
scale. Additionally, AFWS precipitation information can be viewed
at the county scale by clicking on the state, Weather Forecast
Office, River Forecast Center or Water Resources Region view.
These changes are being made in conjunction with infrastructure
modifications to increase the reliability and sustainability of
NWS Web-based hydrologic services. The most significant change is
the separation of the display of AFWS stream gage information
from the AFWS precipitation information at the county scale. AFWS
stream gage information can be accessed through WFO web pages
from the AHPS River and Lakes tab. Additionally, AFWS stream gage
information can be accessed through Area Hydrographs or the River
Observation Map links located at the bottom of the AFWS
precipitation county view page.
On or before March 31, 2013, Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)
used for the NWSs AFWS Hydrologic Services web pages will be as
follows
National AFWS Information Page -
old url: http://afws.erh.noaa.gov/afws/
new url: http://water.weather.gov/afws/
WFO Scale AFWS Pages -
old url: http://afws.erh.noaa.gov/afws/
index.php?gtype=precip&wfo=yyy
new url: http://water.weather.gov/afws/region.php?wfo=yyy
example: http://water.weather.gov/afws/region.php?wfo=RLX
In the example above, yyy is the NWS forecast office identifier.
County Scale AFWS Pages -
old url: http://afws.erh.noaa.gov/afws/
county.php?wfo=yyy&state=ww&county=zzz
new url: http://water.weather.gov/afws/
county.php?state=xx&county=zzz
example: http://water.weather.gov/afws/
county.php?state=WV&county=039
In the example above, yyy is the NWS forecast office identifier,
xx is the two character state abbreviation, and zzz is the
numeric three digit county ID which must be zero-padded if
necessary. In the old url, ww is a numeric two digit state ID.
AFWS Tabular Data Pages, Precipitation:
old url: http://afws.erh.noaa.gov/afws/
tabular_data_$nwsli_precip.html
new url:http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/
hydrograph_to_xml.php?gage=$nwsli&output=
tabular&fcst_type=precip
example:http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/
hydrograph_to_xml.php?gage=arfw2&output=
tabular&fcst_type=precip
In the example above, yyy is the NWS forecast office identifier
and $nwsli is the NWS location identifier of a specific
precipitation gage.
AFWS Tabular Data Pages, Stage
old url: http://afws.erh.noaa.gov/afws/
tabular_data_$nwsli_stage.html
new url:http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/
hydrograph_to_xml.php?gage=$nwsli
&output=tabular
example:http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/
hydrograph_to_xml.php?gage=arfw2
&output=tabular
In the example above, yyy is the NWS forecast office identifier
and $nwsli is the NWS location identifier for a point along a
river or stream.
Other AFWS information pages follow the pattern in the examples
above where the domain name immediately following http:// is replaced with the new domain name water.weather.gov. old url: http://afws.erh.noaa.gov/afws/nationalother.php new url:http://water.weather.gov/afws/nationalother.php These URL changes will not affect users who access NWS Web-based hydrologic services through the tabs on the NWS main page at http://www.weather.gov or the national AHPS page at http://water.weather.gov Users who access the AFWS data either through the AHPS Hydrologic Resources Automated Flood Warning System link or other AHPS pages through AFWS links will be automatically redirected to the new AFWS URLs. Users who automatically interrogate the NWS Automated Flood Warning System Web Pages to obtain hydrologic data will need to change the URL in their procedures as shown in the examples above to access the correct Web location.The AFWS data on this Website comes from external data partners.
Beginning July 2012, NWS alerted external data partners that as of March 31, 2013, the NWS will require quality-assured Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time (ALERT) messages from the below named states be transmitted to the NWS in Standard Hydrologic Exchange Format (SHEF). The impetus for this request was to increase the efficiency and extensibility of the NWS AFWS. This request will affect data from the following 12 states only: Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. This change will better integrate the ALERT data into the AHPS Web portal, streamlining data flow and user access to related information. After March 31, 2013, the NWS will no longer be able to ingest raw ALERT messages from the above mentioned locations. Unfortunately, some partners will be unable to convert by the March 31, 2013, deadline. This will cause gaps in the data viewed on the AHPS website which will be hosting the AFWS information. If you have questions on your data providers status in transitioning to the new transmission format and collection process, please contact your local Weather Forecast Office for information. See SCN 12-25: NWS to Establish New Methods to Collect Automated Flood Warning System Information by March 31, 2013 http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/scn12-25afws.htm for more For further information, please contact: John Bradley Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services National Weather Service john.bradley@xxxxxxxx Donna Page Office of Hydrologic Development National Weather Service donna.page@xxxxxxxx National Service Change Notices are online at:http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm
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