Service Change Notice
NOUS41 KWBC 061355
PNSWSH
Service Change Notice 11-40
National Weather Service Headquarters Washington DC
915 AM EST Tue Dec 6 2011
To: Subscribers:
-Family of Services
-NOAA Weather Wire Service
-Emergency Managers Weather Information Network
-NOAAPORT
Other NWS Partners, Users and Employees
From: Therese Z. Pierce
Chief, Marine and Coastal Services Branch
Subject: Changes in Offshore Waters Marine Zones
For the Caribbean and Southwest North Atlantic
And the Gulf of Mexico Effective April 3, 2012
Effective Tuesday April 3, 2012 at 200 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
or 1800 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the Tropical Analysis and
Forecast Branch (TAFB) of the National Hurricane Center will reconfigure
its marine zones for the offshore waters in the Caribbean and Southwest
North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.
Currently there are five (5) marine zones covering the Caribbean and
Southwest North Atlantic and four (4) marine zones covering the Gulf of
Mexico. These zones will be reconfigured into twenty-four (24) marine
zones to cover the Caribbean and Southwest North Atlantic and eight (8)
zones to cover the Gulf of Mexico. Marine observations, local effects,
and substantial customer feedback all indicate that the current configuration
of marine zones does not adequately address the local effects and does not
provide enough detail for the marine community. This reconfiguration will
serve to improve the precision of marine warnings, forecasts, and other
services by allowing forecasters to be more area specific.
Table 1 lists the current marine zones and corresponding
UGCs for which TAFB issues forecasts and warnings.
Table 2 lists the marine zones and corresponding Universal Geographic
Codes (UGC) for which TAFB will issue forecasts and warnings effective
April 3, 2012.
Table 3 lists all of the products issued by TAFB that will be affected by
the marine zone changes.
Table 1. Current marine zones and corresponding UGCs
which TAFB issues forecasts and warnings:
Current Marine Zone Name Current UGC
Synopsis for the SW N Atlc including the AMZ088
Bahamas
SW N Atlantic S of 31N W of 65W AMZ080
including Bahamas
Synopsis for the Caribbean Sea and Tropical AMZ089
N Atlc from 07N to 22N between 55W and 65W
NW Caribbean N of 15N W of 75W AMZ082
SW Caribbean S of 15N W of 75W AMZ084
Caribbean E of 75W to the AMZ086
Windward and Leeward Islands
Tropical N Atlantic from 07N to 22N AMZ087
between 55W and 65W
Synopsis for the Gulf of Mexico GMZ089
NW Gulf N of 25N W of 90W including the GMZ080
Flower Garden Banks Marine Sanctuary
SW Gulf S of 25N W of 90W GMZ082
Middle Gulf between 85W and 90W GMZ084
E Gulf between 81W and 85W GMZ086
Table 2. Marine zones and corresponding UGCs for which
TAFB will issue forecasts and warnings effective
April 3, 2012:
New Marine Zone Name NEW UGC
Synopsis for Caribbean Sea and Tropical AMZ001
N Atlantic from 07N to 22N between 55W and 65W
Caribbean N of 18N W of 85W including AMZ011
Yucatan Basin
Caribbean N of 18N between 76W and 85W AMZ013
including Cayman Basin
Caribbean approaches to the Windward Passage AMZ015
Gulf of Honduras AMZ017
Caribbean from 15N to 18N between 80W AMZ019
and 85W
Caribbean from 15N to 18N between 72W AMZ021
and 80W
Caribbean N of 15N between 64W and 72W AMZ023
Offshore Waters Leeward Islands AMZ025
Tropical N Atlantic from 15N to 19N between AMZ027
55W and 60W
W Central Caribbean from 11N to 15N W of 80W AMZ029
Caribbean from 11N to 15N between 72W AMZ031
and 80W including Colombia Basin
Caribbean S of 15N between 64W and 72W AMZ033
including Venezuela Basin
Offshore Waters Windward Islands including AMZ035
Trinidad and Tobago
Tropical N Atlantic from 07N to 15N between AMZ037
55W and 60W
Southwest Caribbean S of 11N including AMZ039
Approaches to the Panama Canal
Synopsis for the SW N Atlantic including AMZ101
the Bahamas
Atlantic from 27N to 31N W of 77W AMZ111
Atlantic from 27N to 31N between 70W and 77W AMZ113
Atlantic from 27N to 31N between 65W and 70W AMZ115
Bahamas including Cay Sal Bank AMZ117
Atlantic from 22N to 27N E of Bahamas to 70W AMZ119
Atlantic from 22N to 27N between 65W and 70W AMZ121
Atlantic S of 22N W of 70W including AMZ123
Approaches to the Windward Passage
Atlantic S of 22N between 65W and 70W AMZ125
including Puerto Rico Trench
Atlantic from 19N to 22N between 55W and 65W AMZ127
Synopsis for the Gulf of Mexico GMZ001
NW Gulf including Stetson Bank GMZ011
N Central Gulf including Flower Garden Banks GMZ013
Marine Sanctuary
NE Gulf N of 25N E of 87W GMZ015
W Central Gulf from 22N to 26N W of 94W GMZ017
Central Gulf from 22N to 26N between 87W GMZ019
and 94W
Gulf from 22N to 25N E of 87W including GMZ021
Straits of Florida
SW Gulf S of 22N W of 94W GMZ023
E Bay of Campeche including Campeche Bank GMZ025
To view graphical images of the current marine zones and the proposed
marine zones for which TAFB will issue forecasts and warnings effective
April 3, 2012 go to the following web site:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/scn/marine/2011/marine_zones/examples.html
Table 3. TAFB products affected by the marine zone changes effective
April 3, 2012:
Product Name WMO Heading AWIPS ID
Offshore Waters Forecast FZNT23 KNHC OFFNT3
Offshore Waters Forecast FZNT24 KNHC OFFNT4
Miami NAVTEX Forecast FZNT25 KNHC OFFN04
San Juan NAVTEX Forecast FZNT26 KNHC OFFN05
New Orleans NAVTEX Forecast FZNT27 KNHC OFFN06
Customers must reprogram affected hardware and software to continue
correctly processing the products listed in Table 3.
Also customers using a graphical representation of these zones must
download an updated marine zone map shapefile to correctly depict the
marine forecast areas for the Caribbean and southwest North Atlantic
and the Gulf of Mexico offshore waters.
An updated marine zone map shapefile containing the new zones is
available for download from the following website:
www.nws.noaa.gov/geodata/catalog/wsom/html/marinezones.htm
The NAVTEX forecasts will be reconfigured to limit coverage to within
200 nm of the coasts assigned to each transmitter. Specifically, the
forecast area for the New Orleans transmitter will cover the northern
Gulf of Mexico from the Suwanee River, FL to the mouth of the Rio
Grande, out 200 nm. The Miami NAVTEX forecast area will cover the waters
around the peninsula of Florida from Suwanee River on the Gulf Coast, to
Flagler Beach on the Atlantic Coast, out 200 nm. The San Juan forecast
area will cover the waters within 200 nm of the San Juan transmitter, to
include the Mona Passage and part of the Anegada Passage. This
reconfiguration will better conform to the range of the transmitters,
provide more detailed information along the immediate coast, and better
meet broadcast time constraints.
For more information, including maps of the new NAVTEX areas, please refer
to the following website:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/experimental/offshores/navtex.php
In order to better meet the time constraints for voice broadcast via the U.S.
Coast Guard, two new products will be made available as listed in Table 4.
These products will combine forecasts for the 32 zones in such a way that they
will be similar to the Offshore Waters Forecasts before reconfiguration.
Table 4. Future Product Headers for USCG Voice Broadcasts:
Product Name WMO Heading AWIPS ID
Broadcast Text for the FZNT31 KNHC MIAOFFN20
Caribbean and Southwest
North Atlantic
Broadcast Text for the Gulf FZNT32 KNHC MIAOFFN21
Of Mexico
If you have any questions or comments about this reconfiguration of TAFB
offshore waters marine zones please contact:
Hugh D. Cobb Richard May
Chief, TAFB NWS Headquarters
National Hurricane Center Marine Services
11691 SW 17th Street 1325 East-West Highway
Miami, FL 33165-2149 Silver Spring, MD 20910
305-229-4454 301-713-1677 x 127
Hugh.Cobb@noaa.gov Richard.May@noaa.gov
National Weather Service Change notices are posted at:
http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm
$$
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