Station Hours of Operation

This is a complete revision of WSOM Chapter A-12. It sets forth the policy for establishing office hours of operation, delegates limited authority to change hours of operation, and establishes the procedures to be followed to change hours of operation or to close an office. Operations Manual Letter 7-80, Procedures for Reduction in Hours of Operation or Services has been incorporated into the revised A-12.

Station Hours of Operation. This cancels Operations Manual Letter 7-80,Procedures for Reduction in Hours of Operation or Services dated May 28,1980.

1. Purpose. This chapter sets forth the general policy for establishing office hours of operation and the procedures to be followed to change the hours of operation.

2. Policy. Office hours of operation and the basic office program levels are established by the Assistant Administrator for Weather Services with the advice of the Director, Office of Meteorology, and the Regional Directors. Mission needs, office functions, and program service requirements are the major determining factors in the establishment of hours of operation and basic program levels. As a broad policy, all field offices having primary network radar responsibilities and all Weather Service Forecast Offices operate on a 24-hour schedule; and in the event of the occurrence or imminent threat of severe or hazardous weather conditions, NWS field offices which have warning responsibility and do not normally operate 24 hours daily should remain open until the weather threat has ended.

Authority to change office hours of operation or significantly reduce basic office program levels, except as delegated in Section 3, lies solely in National Weather Service Headquarters (WSH). Prior approval of WSH shall be obtained before any nonemergency, nondelegated change is put into effect.

a. To Regional Directors. The authority is delegated to the Regional Directors to: (l) adjust office hours of operation and schedules for changes to and from daylight savings time, (2) adjust office hours of operation to meet service needs so long as the total number of hours per day is not reduced and nationally scheduled products or network radar operations are not affected, and (3) adjust office hours in emergency situations (illnesses, personal emergencies, damage to the office, etc.) for up to 30 days.

b. To Meteorologists in Charge/Officials in Charge/Hydrologists in Charge (MIC/OIC/HIC) and Area Managers. In the event of actual or threatened severe weather or other weather-related emergencies, area managers or MIC's/OIC's/HIC's have the authority to temporarily extend hours of operation without prior approval. The area manager or the MIC/OIC/HIC of any office assuming the functions of an inoperative field office has the authority to extend the hours of operation of the backup office without prior approval. Area managers and HIC's may reduce office hours within their area of responsibility for up to 3 days in emergency situations. In all cases the appropriate Regional Director and area manager shall be notified of the change in operation as soon as possible and practical.

b. Accommodation of scheduled commercial aircraft operations, including air freight and air courier operations. If the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a less than 24-hour tower operation, the proposed NWS reduction should try to match the hours of operation of the control tower unless the FAA will take the observations.

c. The classification of the airport by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as requiring the provision of standard ICAO meteorological services for regular scheduled international airline operations or as an alternate for such operations.

Some services at a network radar or upper air Weather Service Office (WSO) may be curtailed to maintain the radar or upper air observational coverage.

e. If network weather radar operations must be curtailed, the time of the proposed curtailment should be during the climatological "quiet period" of the day for the area of radar coverage, and adequate provisions shall be proposed for backup radar coverage. Proposals to curtail or alter radar operations are considered on an individual, case-by-case basis by WSH.

5. Procedures for Submitting Proposals to Reduce Hours or Close Offices. Proposals to change a field office's hours of operation shall be submitted in writing by the Regional Director to the Assistant Administrator for Weather Services for approval, with a copy to the Office of Meteorology (OM). The proposal should include the information necessary to prepare a congressional facts sheet (see section 6.a. 3-7). If the proposal involves a network radar or upper air observations, both OM and the Office of Systems Operations (OSO) shall be sent copies.

6. Coordination and Notification Actions Subsequent to WSH Approval of Reduction in Hours or Office Closure. If aviation surface weather observations are reduced and an FAA control zone is affected, NWS Regional Directors should notify FAA Regional Offices of the change. The FAA normally requires 9 weeks advance written notice of the changes to correct charts and publications. NWS Regional Directors may arrange for a shorter advance notice period with the appropriate FAA Regional Office.

The congressional delegation of the affected area must be notified in writing, usually by a facts sheet, of any significant change in the hours of operation or services of an NWS field office. In the event of a permanent office closure, the Administrator of NOAA and the Congress must be notified before the closure. Congress should be notified at least 2 weeks before a reduction and 30 days before a closure. WSH is responsible for notifying the Administrator of NOAA and providing NOAA Office of Legislative Affairs with the information necessary for congressional notification.

The following coordination and notification steps must be taken before a significant (120 days or more) reduction or closure can be implemented.

a. At the time of the formal FAA notification, or at least 14 days before any public announcement of the reduction, WSH must furnish the appropriate congressional delegation with a facts sheet explaining the change. The Regional Directors shall provide WSH/OM with the information necessary to write the facts sheet; this information can be in either narrative or outline form. The facts sheet should contain:

1. A brief description of office operations, service programs, and services -- include NOAA Weather Radio programs and the presence of special equipment, such as radar.

3. The specific factors, briefly stated, leading to the staff shortage and reduction, e.g., one employee retired, employee transferred, employee resigned, etc.

4. Services to be curtailed and back up and/or alternative provision of services including supplemental aviation weather reporting station -- SAWRS -- operations.

5. If observations are to be eliminated or curtailed, the times of the first and last scheduled commercial aircraft operations including regular air freight and air courier flights, the presence of significant air taxi operations, and whether the airport is classified as an ICAO aerodrome or ICAO alternate aerodrome.

6. The proposed new hours of operation, the proposed effective date of the reduction, whether the reduction is temporary (short term or long term) or permanent, and, if known, the period of the temporary reduced operation.

b. The Regional Director, area manager, or local MIC/OIC should discuss the reduction with the local union representative in accordance with the current negotiated agreement, office staff, local officials, and large local "customer" groups, before the effective date of the reduction but after the congressional delegation is notified. The congressional delegation is usually notified about a week after the facts sheet information material is received in WSH. This does not preclude holding local meetings well before the reduction to identify any local impacts or problems that the proposed reduction would cause.

7. Actions Involved to Expand Hours. The steps taken to expand hours or services are essentially the reverse of those involved in a reduction. The major difference is that the information provided WSH can be less detailed, dealing only with the major aspects of the expansion. As necessary, WSH will prepare a congressional facts sheet describing the expansion. MIC/OIC/HICIs shall submit a revised WS Form A-3, P.l to WSH (W/MB3) within 7 days after the effective date of a change in hours of operation or services.

8. Documentation. The documentation of the normal hours of operation of each field office shall be contained in each office's Station Duty Manual. In the interest of managing administrative workload, the documentation need not be amended if the duration of a change in operations is for less than 120 days, but in this case, a copy of the memorandum effecting the change should be filed in the Station Duty Manual.

WSH (W/MB3) shall maintain the master listing of the hours of operation of all NWS field offices; Regional Headquarters should maintain a list of the hours of operation of all field offices in their region that operate less than 24 hours daily.

MIC/OIC/HICIs shall submit a revised WS Form A-3, page 1 (Station Information, 6eneral) to WSH (W/MB3) within 7 days of the effective date of any change of 120 days or more duration. Changes in hours due to daylight savings time do not require the submission of a revised WS Form A-3.