http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/notification/scn13-36alaska_marine_zones.htm
NOUS41 KWBC 301951
Service Change Notice 13-36
National Weather Service Headquarters Washington DC
351 PM EDT Thu May 30 2013
To: Subscribers:
-Family of Services
-NOAA Weather Wire Service
-Emergency Managers Weather Information Network
-NOAAPORT
Other NWS partners and NWS employees
From: Mark Tew
Chief, Marine and Coastal Weather Services Branch
Subject: Changes to Coastal Marine Zones in the Gulf of Alaska
and Bering Sea Effective October 1, 2013
Effective Tuesday, October 1, 2013, at 10 AM Alaska
Daylight Time (AKDT), 2 PM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT),
1800 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the NWS Weather Forecast
Office (WFO) in Anchorage, AK (AFC) will reconfigure its marine
zones for the coastal waters in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering
Sea. The changes include renaming, renumbering and realigning
several zones as well as adding eight new forecast zones. Several
zone changes will be in name only while the zone number remains
the same. The purpose of this change is to improve marine weather
services for NWS users and partners.
Customers must reprogram affected hardware and software
to continue processing the products in Table 1.
An updated zone map shapefile containing the new boundaries
for these marine zones is available for download from the
following website:
A map showing the existing and additional marine zones
that will be effective October 1, 2013 is posted on the WFO
Anchorage page at:
For more information, please contact:
James Nelson Louise Fode
Science and Operations Officer Marine Program Manager
National Weather Service National Weather Service
WFO Anchorage Alaska Region Headquarters
6930 Sand Lake Rd 222 W 7th Ave Rm 517 #23
Anchorage, AK 99502 Anchorage, AK 99513
(907) 266-5120 907-271-3507
National Service Change Notices are online at:
SO CONSIDER THIS YOUR OFFICIAL NOTICE
SO LETS TAKE A LOOK.... WHAT IS IMPROVED? IF MARINERS ARE THE REAL USER OF MARINE WEATHER THEN WHY HAVE THEY NOT BEEN A PART OF THE IMPROVEMENT PROCESS? WHY HAS THERE NOT BEEN A PHASE IN PERIOD? WHO IS CHECKING THAT IT WILL WORK - NO BUGS? OMG!!!
DEAR MARINER - WE FORGOT TO INCLUDE YOU IN OUR GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACY - WE KNOW YOU AS THE ULTIMATE USER OF MARINE WEATHER WHO DON'T MIND BEING TOLD - YOU WILL FIGURE IT OUT WHEN IT FAILS TO PROVIDE YOU WEATHER INFORMATIONS... WE BELIEVE YOU COULDN'T OFFER US SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS SINCE YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF BOAT DRIVERS... REMEMBER NOAA IS SMARTER THAN YOU AND WE WILL SPOON FEED YOU WITH JUST THE DETAILS WHICH OBAMA THINKS WILL TAKE CARE OF YOUR NEEDS FOR SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA. HE KNOWS HIS STUFF!
OCTOBER 1ST - THIS IS A TERRIBLE DATE FOR CHANGE - WHY? BECAUSE MARINERS WHO ARE EXITING ARCTIC ALASKA ARE GREATLY DEPENDENT ON GOOD WEATHER - THEY DO NOT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE CHANGES TO SOFTWARE AND EQUIPMENT WHILE AT SEA IN EXTREME WEATHER. WHY NOT MAKE THE CHANGE ON DECEMBER 29TH - AT YEAR'S END - THIS MAKES MORE SENSE OR EVEN JANUARY 2ND 2014 IN THE NEW YEAR.
WILL MARINER'S E-MAIL FTP WEATHER REQUESTS CONTINUE TO WORK WITHOUT INTERRUPTIONS?
OR WILL THEY REQUIRE RE-PROGRAMMING OR SOFTWARE UPGRADES? WILL THERE BE A TESTING PERIOD ALONG WITH A PHASE-IN PERIOD TO AVOID LOSS OF SERVICE OR BUGS?
http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/ftpmail.txt
NEW LINKS:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/usamz.htm
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/alaska/akcstmz.htm
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/alaska/afgmz.htm
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/wrdoffmz.htm
Feel free to post your reply as a comment below for everyone to learn from.
UPDATE 20130819
Hi Douglas,
First of all, thank you for taking the time to provide feedback. I hope I can address some of your concerns about the upcoming marine zone changes. This may seem like a sudden change, but we've actually received feedback over many years from our customers that our current zones are inadequate. In addition, when developing the plan for the new marine zones, our Warning Coordination Meteorologist spent time soliciting feedback from many sectors of the marine community, such as the Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle, the Kodiak Boat Show, the Alaska State Fair, the annual USCG Boating Safety Course, and harbormaster meetings and other outreach events in communities around the area including Whittier, Homer, Dutch Harbor, Cold Bay, Cordova, and many others.
In addition, the notice of this change allows people like yourself to comment on the proposed zones. We are reaching out to the community using the internet, our Port Meteorological Officers, NOAA Weather Radio, HF Radio, the USCG, the harbormasters, and many other routes to contact as many ships and boats as possible.
I understand your concern on the timing of this notice. Unfortunately, nationally we are restricted to a few times a year that we are able to make these changes. While this timing is inconvenient, no time is particularly good for making these changes, due to conflicts with crab fishing season and subsistence hunting as well. However, I will pass your feedback on to our national managers to make the argument that the times for our zone changes should not be restricted. In addition, although it will be painful, I am hoping that transiting through Alaskan waters during this time will make the changes apparent to our mariners, instead of forgotten and unnoticed when they are out of state or in port for the winter.
I've cc'd Larry Hubble, our chief Port Meteorological Officer, to help you with any ftp concerns you may have. We will work together to make sure we meet the needs of the mariners who use this service.
Finally, regarding your suggestion for a phase-over and testing plan, we are not able to have multiple versions of the same forecast out for two main reasons: first, this causes confusion among our mariners as to which is the "correct" forecast. Second, our forecasts are issued in many formats that don't allow duplication, such as NOAA Weather Radio, NAVTEX, and HF Radio. This is why we are trying to get the word out ahead of time, so that the mariners can make the needed changes. We would appreciate if you would help us get the word out to any people you know who use these products.
Regards,
Louise Fode
Marine, Public and Severe Weather Programs Manager
NOAA National Weather Service - Alaska Region Headquarters
Office Phone: 907-271-3507
Mobile: 907-223-2564
NOAA National Weather Service - Alaska Region Headquarters
Office Phone: 907-271-3507
Mobile: 907-223-2564
Fax: 907-271-3711
SEEMS THIS HAS BEEN IN PROCESS FOR YEARS....
STAND BY FOR DETAILS AS I LEARN MORE...
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