000 NOUS41 KOKX 112116 PNSOKX NJZ002>006-011-NYZ067>081-CTZ005>012-302359- PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE UPTON NY 500 PM EST MON APR 11 2005 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...NWS EMPLOYEES FROM MICHAEL WYLLIE METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE SUBJECT NEW TSUNAMI PROGRAM AND WATCH AND WARNING TEXT PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FOR GULF AND EASTERN COAST UNITED STATES EFFECTIVE WEDNESDAY APRIL 20 2005 AT 2 PM...A TSUNAMI WARNING PLAN WILL BE IMPLEMENTED ACROSS THE COASTAL AREAS OF THE GULF OF MEXICO AND EASTERN UNITED STATES. THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER (WC/ATWC) WILL IMPLEMENT A NEW SUITE OF TSUNAMI TEXT PRODUCTS FOR THE GULF AND EAST COASTAL AREAS OF THE UNITED STATES. THESE PRODUCTS WILL BE SIMILAR IN FORMAT AND CONTENT TO THE EXISTING SUITE OF TSUNAMI PRODUCTS CURRENTLY ISSUED FOR ALASKA AND THE WEST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES. THE TSUNAMI WATCH/WARNING PROGRAM WILL PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT A POTENTIAL TSUNAMI...THE SOURCE...THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL FOR WAVES...AND WILL ALERT RESIDENTS TO THE RISK OF FLOODING. THE TSUNAMI INFORMATION BULLETIN WILL CONTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT SIGNIFICANT EARTHQUAKES WHICH ARE NOT LIKELY TO TRIGGER A TSUNAMI. THE EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION MESSAGE WILL CONTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT SMALLER EARTHQUAKES THAT MAY BE FELT IN A COASTAL AREA BUT ARE UNLIKELY TO GENERATE A TSUNAMI. THE COMMUNICATIONS HEADINGS AND IDS FOR THESE PRODUCTS ARE LISTED IN TABLE 1. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE UPTON NY WILL RELAY THESE WATCH...WARNING AND/OR TSUNAMI INFORMATIONAL PRODUCTS VIA THE CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE USING THE EAS EVENT CODE OF CEM ON ALL HAZARDS NOAA WEATHER RADIO (NWR). WE WILL BE COORDINATING THE USE OF NEW EAS EVENT CODES FOR THE TSUNAMI WATCH...TSU AND THE TSUNAMI WARNING...TSW...WHICH WE PLAN TO IMPLEMENT LATER THIS SUMMER. IMPORTANT NOTE: CUSTOMERS OF NWS STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS MUST UPDATE THEIR COMMUNICATION SYSTEM DIRECTORIES TO RECEIVE THESE PRODUCTS. TABLE 1 NEW TSUNAMI WATCH/WARNING AND INFORMATIONAL PRODUCTS. PRODUCT WMO HEADING AWIPS ID TSUNAMI WATCH/WARNING WEXX20 PAAQ TSUAT1 TSUNAMI INFORMATION WEXX22 PAAQ TIBAT1 EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION SEXX60 PAAQ EQIAT1 EXAMPLES OF THESE TEXT PRODUCTS CAN BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING URLS /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/: HTTP://WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV/WEXX20.TXT HTTP://WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV/WEXX22.TXT HTTP://WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV/SEXX60.TXT COMMUNICATIONS TESTS FOR THE TSUNAMI WATCH/WARNING (WEXX20 PAAQ TSUAT1) PRODUCT WILL OCCUR ON A MONTHLY BASIS. THE TSUNAMI MESSAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT PRODUCTS LISTED IN TABLE 2 ARE FOR INTERNAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COMMUNICATIONS ONLY AND SHOULD BE IGNORED BY EXTERNAL CUSTOMERS. TABLE 2 TSUNAMI MESSAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY PRODUCT WMO HEADING AWIPS ID TSUNAMI MESSAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT SEUS41 KBOX TMABOX TSUNAMI MESSAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT SEUS41 KOKX TMAOKX TSUNAMI MESSAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT SEUS41 KPHI TMAPHI THE TSUNAMI PRODUCT HEADERS LISTED IN TABLE 3 HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR TESTING PURPOSES ONLY AND SHOULD BE IGNORED BY EXTERNAL CUSTOMERS. TABLE 3 TSUNAMI WATCH/WARNING PRODUCTS FOR TESTING ONLY PRODUCT WMO HEADING AWIPS ID PUBLIC TSUNAMI WATCH/WARNING WEXX30 PAAQ TSUATE PUBLIC TSUNAMI INFORMATION WEXX32 PAAQ TIBATE NOAA'S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL BE PROMOTING TSUNAMI EDUCATION AND PREPAREDNESS...INCLUDING THE TSUNAMI READY PROGRAM. TSUNAMI READY IS A VOLUNTARY PROGRAM DESIGNED TO EDUCATE LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND THEIR CONSTITUENTS AND TO PROMOTE A WELL-DESIGNED TSUNAMI EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN FOR EACH COMMUNITY. THE PROGRAM PROMOTES TSUNAMI HAZARD PREPAREDNESS AS AN ACTIVE COLLABORATION AMONG FEDERAL ...STATE AND LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCIES. THIS COLLABORATION SUPPORTS GREATER AND MORE CONSISTENT TSUNAMI AWARENESS AND MITIGATION EFFORTS AMONG COMMUNITIES AT RISK. FOR INFORMATION ON TSUNAMI EDUCATION AND PREPAREDNESS...PLEASE CONTACT GARY CONTE...OUR WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST. HE CAN BE REACHED VIA EMAIL AT GARY.CONTE@NOAA.GOV. $$ GC