NOUS41 KWBC 221459
PNSWSH
Service Change Notice 19-87
National Weather Service Headquarters, Silver Spring, MD
XXXX PM EDT Day Oct XX 2019
To: Subscribers:
-NOAA Weather Wire Service
-Emergency Managers Weather Information Network
-NOAAPORT
Other NWS partners and NWS employees
From: Douglas C. Young
Chief, Digital and Graphical Information Support
Branch
Subject: NWS WFO dissemination of Blue Alerts begins on or after
January 7, 2020
The FCC authorized a new Emergency Alert System (EAS)
Event Code of BLU for Blue Alerts via Report and Order 17-
170 issued December 14, 2017. Blue Alerts are issued by
state and territory (hereafter referenced as state) and
local officials to warn the public when there is
actionable information related to a law enforcement
officer who is missing, seriously injured or killed in the
line of duty, or when there is an imminent credible threat
to an officer.
Each state has unique EAS policies and procedures. As with
all Non-Weather Emergency Messages, if the State Emergency
Communications Committee (SECC) and state broadcasters
association choose to convey Blue Alerts to the EAS, state
and local officials may request the NWS to convey these
messages across NWS systems.
Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) will have the capability to
convey Blue Alerts using the following set of World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) text products with
unique Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System
AWIPS) Identifiers and WMO Headings:
https://www.weather.gov/media/notification/ref/blue_rc_ids
.pdf
For those states in which Blue Alerts will be conveyed,
NWS partners and users should take action to update their
databases with the appropriate AWIPS Identifiers and WMO
Headings.
Blue Alerts will also be disseminated over NOAA Weather
Radio All Hazards (NWR); if Specific Area Message Encoding
(SAME) tones accompany the message dissemination, the SAME
Event Code will be BLU.
WFOs can only convey Blue Alerts after they have first
coordinated with their respective SECC and broadcasters
associations and after updated software is in place at the
WFO. According to the current NWS software implementation
schedule, the ability of WFOs to convey Blue Alerts using
the BLU EAS Event Code will gradually phase in across WFOs
from January through April 2020.
NWS emphasizes the assignment of AWIPS Identifiers and WMO
Headings for a given office does not necessarily mean the
office will convey Blue Alerts. Further information on
these state decisions may be obtained from a states
SECC.
If you have any questions regarding the NWS plans to
convey Blue Alerts, please contact:
Timothy Schott
NWS Dissemination Services Lead
301-427-9336
Timothy.Schott@noaa.gov
National Public Information Statements are online at:
https://www.weather.gov/notification/
akrherz
commented
5 years ago
BLU pdf