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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 01-02
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
240 PM EST FRI JAN 05 2001

TO:       FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER
          WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ CUSTOMERS...OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER
          SERVICE /NWS/ CUSTOMERS...NWS EMPLOYEES

FROM:     JAMES E. LEE
          CHIEF...FIRE AND PUBLIC WEATHER SERVICES BRANCH

SUBJECT:  INTRODUCTION AND TESTING OF THE VALID TIME EVENT CODE
          AT THE SHREVEPORT LA FORECAST OFFICE...EFFECTIVE 
          MARCH 15 2001

EFFECTIVE THURSDAY MARCH 15 2001 AT 7 A.M. CENTRAL STANDARD TIME
/CST/...1300 UNIVERSAL COORDINATED TIME /UTC/...  THE WEATHER
FORECAST OFFICE IN SHREVEPORT LOUISIANA WILL BEGIN INCLUDING THE
VALID TIME EVENT CODE /VTEC/ IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORM /SVR/ AND
TORNADO /TOR/ WARNINGS /SEE TABLE 1/.  

TABLE 1: MESSAGES FROM THE SHREVEPORT LA OFFICE WHICH WILL
CONTAIN THE VTEC CODE...

MESSAGE TYPE                  AWIPS ID       WMO ID    
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING   SVRSHV         WUUS54 KSHV
TORNADO WARNING               TORSHV         WFUS54 KSHV

/END OF TABLE 1/

THIS TEST WILL BE CONTINUOUSLY EVALUATED...WITHOUT A PLANNED
ENDING DATE.  IF ANY SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS ARISE...THE TEST WILL
BE DISCONTINUED AT AN ANNOUNCED DATE/TIME.  THE TEST WILL ALLOW
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TO ENSURE THAT THE PROGRAMS WHICH
CREATE THE VTEC RUN CORRECTLY AND ALSO ALLOW EXTERNAL CUSTOMERS
TO DETERMINE WAYS TO UTILIZE THE VTEC IN THEIR DISSEMINATION AND
NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS.

THE VTEC SPECIFIES THE CONTENT OF EACH MESSAGE SO THAT CUSTOMERS
CAN USE AUTOMATED PROGRAMS TO READ...PROCESS...AND REDISTRIBUTE  
MESSAGES /OR PORTIONS OF MESSAGES/ WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION.
A VTEC STRING WILL BE LOCATED DIRECTLY BELOW THE UGC LINE/S/ IN
EACH SVR...AND TOR PRODUCT FROM THE SHREVEPORT LA OFFICE...WITH
THE EXCEPTION OF MESSAGES ISSUED ON BEHALF OF SHREVEPORT BY
SURROUNDING OFFICES ACTING IN A BACKUP CAPACITY.   

SEE TABLE 2 FOR A KEY OF THE VTEC ELEMENTS.  FOR A DESCRIPTION OF
THE CODE AND ALL ELEMENTS...SEVERAL PRODUCT EXAMPLES...AND
IMPLEMENTATION PLANS...PLEASE SEE THE INTERNET SITE /USE LOWER
CASE/:

     HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/VTEC/VTEC.PDF

ALL CUSTOMERS SHOULD TEST THEIR DISSEMINATION SYSTEM/S/ TO ENSURE
THE TEST VTEC LINE/S/ DOES NOT ADVERSELY IMPACT THE SYSTEM/S/ BY
MARCH 15 2001.

VTEC FORMAT:

HERE IS THE GENERIC FORMAT OF ONE VTEC STRING TO DESCRIBE A
SINGLE EVENT /EACH WATCH...WARNING...OR ADVISORY IS ACCOMPANIED
BY A VTEC STRING...SO TWO WARNINGS IN ONE SEGMENT WOULD BE
ACCOMPANIED BY TWO VTEC STRINGS/.

/AAA.CCCC.PP.S.####.DBHHMM-DEHHMM/

AAA.CCCC.PP.S.#### DESCRIBES EACH WEATHER EVENT AND
DBHHMM-DEHHMM DESCRIBES THE VALID BEGINNING AND ENDING TIME OF
THE EVENT

TABLE 2.  KEY TO VTEC ELEMENTS
AAA - ACTION CODE        /I.E. NEW FOR NEW ISSUANCE/
CCCC -   OFFICE ID       /I.E. KSHV FOR THE SHREVEPORT LA OFFICE/
PP - PHENOMENA CODE      /I.E. SV FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM/
S - SIGNIFICANCE CODE    /I.E. W FOR WARNING/
#### - EVENT TRACKING NUMBER /I.E. 0005 FOR THE FIFTH ISSUANCE OF
A SPECIFIC WATCH...WARNING...OR ADVISORY/
DBHHMM - EVENT BEGINNING DATE/TIME GROUP IN UTC
DEHHMM - EVENT ENDING DATE/TIME GROUP IN UTC

VTEC DELIMITERS:

/ - BEGINS AND ENDS EACH VTEC STRING
. - SEPARATES VTEC ELEMENTS 

EXAMPLE SHOWING THE UGC AND VTEC FOR ONE SVR EVENT:
_________________________________________________________________
WUUS54 KSHV 050400
SVRSHV
LAC059-050445-
/NEW.KSHV.SV.W.0001.050400-050445/ 

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
1000 PM CST FRI FEB 4 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  LA SALLE PARISH IN LOUISIANA

* REST OF MESSAGE...   


_________________________________________________________________

INTERPRETATION: THE SHREVEPORT LA OFFICE /KSHV/ ISSUED A NEW /NEW
IN THE CODE/ SEVERE THUNDERSTORM /SV/ WARNING /W/...EFFECTIVE AT
0400 UTC ON THE FIFTH.  IT WAS THE FIRST SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING /0001/ FROM THIS OFFICE FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR. 

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS... PLEASE CONTACT     

LEE HARRISON                  BRUCE BURKMAN                  
METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE       WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST
PHONE: 318-631-3669           PHONE: 318-631-3669 
LEE.HARRISON@NOAA.GOV         BRUCE.BURKMAN@NOAA.GOV   
5655 HOLLYWOOD AVENUE
SHREVEPORT LA 71109-7750      

...NOTE TO INTERNET USERS...
THIS AND ALL OTHER NWS SERVICE CHANGE NOTICES ARE POSTED ON /USE
LOWER CASE/:

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

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