PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 533 PM EST THU NOV 15 2007 TO... FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS... NOAAPORT SUBSCRIBERS...OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS...NWS EMPLOYEES FROM... PAUL YURA WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC SUBJECT... IMPLEMENTATION OF EXPERIMENTAL MARINE WEATHER WARNING PRODUCT...THE ADDITION OF THREE NEW LONG-DURATION MARINE WATCHES AND THE DISCONTINUANCE OF THE USE OF SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION HEADLINE...EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 3 2007 ON DECEMBER 3 2007...BEGINNING WITH THE AFTERNOON MARINE FORECAST PACKAGE...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON WILL JOIN 12 OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICES IN ISSUING EXPERIMENTAL MARINE WEATHER WARNING /MWW/ BULLETINS. THE MWW IS INTENDED TO BETTER INFORM THE MARINE COMMUNITY OF ADVERSE MARINE HAZARDS AND SERVE AS A DEDICATED LONG-DURATION WATCH...WARNING AND ADVISORY PRODUCT. CURRENTLY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICES WITH MARINE RESPONSIBILITY ISSUE LONG-DURATION MARINE WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES THROUGH HEADLINES AND AN OPERATIONAL VALID TIME AND EXPIRATION CODE /VTEC/ STRING IN THE COASTAL WATERS FORECAST /CWF/. THE MWW BULLETIN WILL PROVIDE THE MARINE COMMUNITY WITH MORE SPECIFICITY AND VITAL MARINE HAZARD INFORMATION PATTERNED AFTER THE NON-PRECIPITATION WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORY /NPW/ BULLETIN AND THE WINTER WEATHER WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORY /WSW/ BULLETIN. USERS MUST ADD THE FOLLOWING PRODUCT HEADERS TO THEIR COMMUNICATIONS DATABASE TO BEGIN RECEIVING THE MARINE WEATHER WARNING PRODUCT. PRODUCT WMO HEADING AWIPS ID MARINE WEATHER WARNING WHUS72 KCHS MWWCHS ALSO ON DECEMBER 3...WFO CHARLESTON WILL IMPLEMENT THE FOLLOWING LONG-DURATION MARINE WATCH PRODUCTS... GALE WATCH /GL.A/ -- SUSTAINED WINDS OR FREQUENT GUSTS OF 34 TO 47 KNOTS ARE POSSIBLE...GENERALLY WITHIN 24 TO 36 HOURS. STORM WATCH /SR.A/ -- SUSTAINED WINDS OR FREQUENT GUSTS OF 48 TO 63 KNOTS ARE POSSIBLE...GENERALLY WITHIN 24 TO 36 HOURS. HURRICANE FORCE WIND WATCH /HF.A/ -- SUSTAINED WINDS OR FREQUENT GUSTS OF 64 KNOTS OR GREATER ARE POSSIBLE...GENERALLY WITHIN 24 TO 36 HOURS. WFO CHARLESTON WILL ISSUE A MWW FOR THE FOLLOWING SUITE OF MARINE WATCH...WARNING AND ADVISORY EVENTS... ...MARINE WATCHES... GALE WATCH STORM WATCH HURRICANE FORCE WIND WATCH ...MARINE WARNINGS... GALE WARNING STORM WARNING HURRICANE FORCE WIND WARNING ...MARINE ADVISORIES... SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS DENSE FOG ADVISORY DENSE SMOKE ADVISORY THE MWW PRODUCT WILL CONTAIN LIMITED USE OF COMMON ALERT PROTOCOL /CAP/. THE MWW WILL BE THE FIRST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TEXT PRODUCT TO CONTAIN CAP MARKUP TAGS. CAP CAN BE USED BY WEB PAGES AND OTHER AUTOMATED SOFTWARE TO CAPTURE TEXT AND REDISTRIBUTE THE INFORMATION IN VARIOUS FORMATS. WFO CHARLESTON WILL DISCONTINUE THE USE OF THE MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT PRODUCT /WMO HEADER FZUS62 KCHS - AWIPS ID MWSCHS/ TO SUPPLEMENT THE COASTAL WATERS FORECAST DURING GALE WARNINGS...STORM WARNINGS AND HURRICANE FORCE WIND WARNING EVENTS. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE FOUND IN THE NEW MWW PRODUCT. THE MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT WILL CONTINUE TO BE USED TO ADDRESS SHORTER DURATION HAZARDS. FINALLY...THE USE OF SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION HEADLINES WILL BE DISCONTINUED. EXAMPLE MARINE WEATHER WARNING BULLETIN... /BEGIN EXAMPLE/ WHUS72 KCHS DDHHMM MWWCHS EXPERIMENTAL...URGENT - MARINE WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 300 PM EST WED NOV 14 2007 ...GALE FORCE WINDS POSSIBLE THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING... .WINDS WILL INCREASE THURSDAY IN THE WAKE OF A STRONG ARCTIC COLD FRONT. WINDS WILL TURN NORTHWEST BEHIND THE FRONT AND INCREASE TO GALE FORCE BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS THE GEORGIA OFFSHORE WATERS. AMZ374-150300- /E.NEW.KCHS.GL.A.0001.071115T1700Z-071116T0300Z/ WATERS FROM SAVANNAH GA TO ALTAMAHA SOUND GA EXTENDING FROM 20 TO 60 NM- 300 PM EST WED NOV 14 2007 ...GALE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A GALE WATCH... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS THURSDAY MORNING AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE REGION. WINDS WILL TURN NORTHWEST BY LATE MORNING AND INCREASE TO 30 TO 35 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 40 KNOTS BY EARLY AFTERNOON ACROSS THE GEORGIA OFFSHORE WATERS. SEAS WILL BUILD TO 9 TO 12 FEET...WHICH WILL CREATE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CONDITIONS ACROSS THE MARINE AREA. CONDITIONS WILL BEGIN TO SUBSIDE THURSDAY EVENING AS HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES OVER CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. A GALE WATCH MEANS SUSTAINED WINDS OR FREQUENT GUSTS TO 34 TO 47 KNOTS ARE POSSIBLE...BUT THE AREA AND DURATION OF GALE FORCE WINDS STILL UNCERTAIN. MARINERS ARE URGED PREPARE NOW FOR GALE FORCE WINDS AND SHOULD CONSIDER REMAINING IN PORT. $$ THIS PRODUCT DOES NOT INCLUDE INFORMATION ON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES. SEE PRODUCTS SUCH AS SPECIAL MARINE WARNINGS... MARINE WEATHER STATEMENTS...WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATIONS AND THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK. /END EXAMPLE/ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...INCLUDING LINKS TO OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES WHO ARE PARTICIPATING IN THIS TEST AS WELL AS A USERS SURVEY...CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT THE FOLLOW ADDRESS /IN LOWER CASE LETTERS/... WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/MWW QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE MWW SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO... PAUL YURA WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 5777 SOUTH AVIATION AVE NORTH CHARLESTON SC 29406 PHONE... 843-744-1436 EMAIL... PAUL.YURA@NOAA.GOV. $$ ST