NOCN04 CWAO 232030 GENOT NO. 027 PART 1 EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 3, 2001, THE FORMAT OF WATCH AND WARNING BULLETINS ISSUED BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA AS PART OF THE METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE OF CANADA'S PUBLIC PROGRAM WILL CHANGE IN ORDER TO IMPROVE READABILITY AND AUTOMATIC PROCESSING OF THESE IMPORTANT BULLETINS. ADVISORIES AND SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENTS ARE NOT AFFECTED BY THIS CHANGE, AND NEITHER ARE WARNINGS OF ANY TYPE ISSUED AS PART OF THE MARINE PROGRAM. EXAMPLES OF THE NEW FORMAT ARE PROVIDED AT THE END OF THIS MESSAGE. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND TORNADO WARNINGS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND TORNADO WARNINGS WILL CONTINUE TO BE TRANSMITTED USING THE WUCN AND WFCN HEADERS, RESPECTIVELY. THERE IS NO CHANGE IN THE CONTENT OF THESE MESSAGES. HOWEVER, SOON AFTER TRANSMISSION OF SUCH A WARNING, A NEW OMNIBUS BULLETIN WILL BE ISSUED USING THE WWCN HEADER USED FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCHES. THIS BULLETIN WILL SUMMARIZE ALL THE WARNINGS AND WATCHES IN EFFECT OR ENDED - INCLUDING THOSE FOR OTHER TYPES OF SEVERE WEATHER IF APPLICABLE - AND WILL FOLLOW THE FORMAT DESCRIBED BELOW UNDER WATCHES AND OTHER WEATHER WARNINGS. THE WUCN AND WFCN BULLETINS WILL ALSO FOLLOW THIS FORMAT FOR THE WARNING TYPE, THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE AFFECTED AREAS AND THE DISCUSSION SECTION. REFER TO THE EXAMPLES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS. WATCHES AND OTHER WEATHER WARNINGS - E.G. HEAVY RAINFALL WARNING, FREEZING RAIN WARNING WATCHES, WARNINGS OF OTHER DANGEROUS CONDITIONS, AND THE SUMMARY BULLETIN DESCRIBED ABOVE WILL BE TRANSMITTED IN A SINGLE OMNIBUS WWCN BULLETIN USING EACH WEATHER CENTRE'S EXISTING HEADERS ACCORDING TO THE ZONE OF COVERAGE OF EACH. FOR EXAMPLE, AN ENGLISH WARNING BULLETIN ISSUED FOR SOUTHERN MANITOBA WOULD BEAR THE HEADER WWCN11 CWWG; ONE ISSUED FOR NOVA SCOTIA WOULD BEAR THE HEADER WWCN11 CWHX. THESE WARNING BULLETINS WILL FOLLOW THE STANDARD FORMAT ILLUSTRATED IN THE EXAMPLES. THIS NEW FORMAT BREAKS DOWN THE BULLETIN INTO FOUR SECTIONS, AS APPLICABLE. THESE ARE DESCRIBED BELOW. A LINE OF DASHES SEPARATES EACH SECTION FROM THE NEXT. NO END TIME IS INDICATED IN THESE BULLETINS - THESE ARE UPDATED AS NEEDED. HEADING - GIVES THE DATE AND TIME OF ISSUE. WATCHES/WARNINGS IN EFFECT - GIVES THE GENERAL AREA AFFECTED (E.G. SOUTHERN MANITOBA), FOLLOWED BY THE TYPE OF DANGEROUS WEATHER AND ON THE FOLLOWING LINE(S) THE NAMES OF THE AFFECTED REGION(S). REGION NAMES ARE INDENTED 6 SPACES IN ENGLISH WATCHES OR WARNINGS AND 10 SPACES IN THE BULLETINS IN FRENCH. REGIONS FOR WHICH A NEW WATCH OR WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED HAVE THE TAG =NEW= IN COLUMNS 1 TO 5 IN FRONT OF THE REGION NAME; IN FRENCH BULLETINS, THEY HAVE THE TAG =NOUVEAU= IN COLUMNS 1 TO 9 IN FRONT OF THE REGION NAME. FOLLOWING THE REGION NAMES AN OPTIONAL BRIEF STATEMENT MAY BE INCLUDED TO GIVE ADDITIONAL DETAILS ABOUT THE PARTICULAR SITUATION - FOR EXAMPLE, THE EXPECTED DURATION OF THE EVENT. WATCHES/WARNINGS ENDED - LISTS THE REGIONS FOR WHICH A WATCH OR WARNING IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. NAMES ARE INDENTED 6 OR 10 SPACES AS ABOVE. DISCUSSION - THIS IS A PLAIN-LANGUAGE DESCRIPTION OF THE OVERALL WEATHER SITUATION. MOREOVER, AS A RESULT OF THE CHANGES DESCRIBED ABOVE, THE WARNING SUMMARY MESSAGES LISTED BELOW WILL NO LONGER BE ISSUED AS OF OCTOBER 3, 2001; EACH WILL BE REPLACED BY THE APPLICABLE BULLETIN, AS INDICATED: HEADER AND AREA OF COVERAGE REPLACED BY WWCN31 CWWG - SOUTHERN MANITOBA WWCN11 CWWG WWCN32 CWWG - NORTHERN MANITOBA WWCN12 CWWG WWCN33 CWWG - SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN WWCN13 CWWG WWCN34 CWWG - NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN WWCN14 CWWG WWCN35 CWWG - SOUTHERN ALBERTA WWCN15 CWWG WWCN36 CWWG - NORTHERN ALBERTA WWCN16 CWWG THESE MESSAGES WERE ONLY ISSUED IN ENGLISH. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: JOSEPH SHAYKEWICH METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND BUSINESS POLICY BRANCH METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE OF CANADA TEL: (416) 739 4702; FAX: (416) 739 4967 E-MAIL: JOSEPH.SHAYKEWICH@EC.GC.CA EXAMPLE 1: WWCN10 CWUL 121730 SEVERE WEATHER BULLETIN ISSUED BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA AT 11.30 AM EST TUESDAY 15 JANUARY 2002. ----------------------------------------------------------------- WATCHES/WARNINGS IN EFFECT FOR QUEBEC PROVINCE.. FREEZING RAIN WARNING FOR THE REGIONS OF: =NEW= MONTREAL METROPOLITAIN-LAVAL =NEW= VALLEE DU RICHELIEU - ST-HYACINTHE DRUMMONDVILLE - BOIS-FRANCS. BANDS OF FREEZING RAIN WILL CROSS THE WARNING AREA OVER THE NEXT 4 HOURS. HEAVY SNOWFALL WARNING FOR THE REGIONS OF: =NEW= QUEBEC =NEW= BEAUCE =NEW= CHARLEVOIX MONTMAGNY-L ISLET MAURICIE. 15 CM OF SNOW WILL FALL OVER THESE AREAS TONIGHT. STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS ON WEDNESDAY WILL CAUSE HEAVY BLOWING SNOW IN EXPOSED AREAS. INTENSE COLD WARNING FOR THE REGIONS OF: =NEW= ABITIBI =NEW= TEMISCAMINGUE PONTIAC GATINEAU-LIEVRE-PAPINEAU. STRONG WINDS AND LOW TEMPERATURES WILL PRODUCE EXTREME COLD CONDITIONS IN THE ABOVE REGIONS. ----------------------------------------------------------------- WATCHES/WARNINGS ENDED FOR QUEBEC PROVINCE.. FREEZING RAIN WARNING ENDED FOR THE REGION OF: ESTRIE. HEAVY SNOWFALL WARNING ENDED FOR THE REGIONS OF: MONTREAL METROPOLITAIN-LAVAL VALLEE DU RICHELIEU - ST-HYACINTHE DRUMMONDVILLE - BOIS-FRANCS. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==DISCUSSION== AN INTENSE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CURRENTLY OVER NORTHERN VERMONT IS MOVING NORTHEASTWARD. BANDS OF FREEZING RAIN ARE EXPECTED CLOSE TO THE SYSTEM WHILE HEAVY SNOWFALL OCCURS FURTHER FROM IT. COLD ARCTIC AIR WILL ADVANCE OVER THE PROVINCE WEST OF THIS SYSTEM. EXAMPLE 2: WWCN11 CWWG 042231 SEVERE WEATHER BULLETIN ISSUED BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA AT 4:31 PM CDT SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2002. ----------------------------------------------------------------- WATCHES/WARNINGS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHERN MANITOBA.. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR THE REGION OF: =NEW= R.M. OF PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE INCLUDING PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE. RADAR SHOWS VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ..LIKELY ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE HAIL.. IN THE PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE AREA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 30 KM/H. THIS IS A WARNING THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. REMEMBER SOME SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE TORNADOES..LISTEN FOR UPDATED WARNINGS. EMERGENCY MEASURES MANITOBA RECOMMENDS TAKING COVER IMMEDIATELY WHEN THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR THE REGIONS OF: STEINBACH-ST ADOLPHE-DOMINION CITY-VITA-RICHER PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE-HEADINGLEY-BRUNKILD-CARMAN MORDEN-WINKLER-ALTONA-EMERSON-MORRIS. SOME SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP UNTIL EARLY THIS EVENING IN THESE AREAS. THIS IS AN ALERT TO THE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES TAKE IMMEDIATE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS. ----------------------------------------------------------------- WATCHES/WARNINGS ENDED FOR SOUTHERN MANITOBA.. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ENDED FOR THE REGIONS OF: R.M. OF NORTH CYPRESS INCLUDING CARBERRY AND MELBOURNE R.M. OF ODANAH SOUTH OF MINNEDOSA INCLUDING MOORE PARK. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==DISCUSSION== STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED IN THE PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE AREA. RADAR IMAGERY INDICATES POTENTIAL FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. EVERELL / ADMA / TORONTO