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NOUS44 KEWX 121802
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TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-130615-

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio TX
1202 PM CST Tue Nov 12 2024

...New Cold Weather Products this Winter Season...

On October 1, 2024, the NWS implemented the following changes to
Public Program Text Products:

- Consolidate the following text products:
* Hard Freeze Watch to Freeze Watch
* Hard Freeze Warning to Freeze Warning
* Wind Chill Watch and Extreme Cold Watch consolidated
   with Extreme Cold Watch
* Wind Chill Warning and Extreme Cold Warning consolidated
   with Extreme Cold Warning
- Transition of Wind Chill Advisory to Cold Weather Advisory.

The criteria that the Austin-San Antonio NWS office will be
using for the Cold Weather Advisory and the Extreme Cold Warning
are as follows. There are two different sets of temperature
criteria for each product, based on county.

Cold Weather Advisory: 15 degrees
For the following counties... Travis, Williamson, Burnet, Llano,
Blanco, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Bandera, Real, Edwards, Val
Verde

Cold Weather Advisory:  20 degrees
For the following counties... Lee, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays,
Bastrop, Gonzales, Lavaca, DeWitt, Karnes, Wilson, Guadalupe,
Comal, Bexar, Atascosa, Medina, Frio, Uvalde, Kinney, Maverick,
Dimmit, Zavala

Extreme Cold Warning: 5 degrees
For the following counties... Travis, Williamson, Burnet, Llano,
Blanco, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Bandera, Real, Edwards, Val
Verde

Extreme Cold Warning:  10 degrees
For the following counties... Lee, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays,
Bastrop, Gonzales, Lavaca, DeWitt, Karnes, Wilson, Guadalupe,
Comal, Bexar, Atascosa, Medina, Frio, Uvalde, Kinney, Maverick,
Dimmit, Zavala

As in all weather situations where temperature criteria are used, there
may be times where one or two spots in a county may be colder than
the rest of the county due to thermometer quality, location, and/or
elevation. Issuance of these new products will depend on if the
criteria is met across the entire county and if the criteria will
be met for longer than just an hour or two. NWS Austin-San Antonio
will also coordinate with our NWS office neighbors to make sure the
cold messaging is consistent across the region.

Freeze Watch/Warning and Extreme Cold Watch/Warning are contained
in the Non-Precipitation Weather Message (NPW). For Freeze
Warning and Watch, there will be the option to use the wording
Hard Freeze within the body of the product (e.g., in the What
bullet of the text). The Valid Time Event Code (VTEC) phenomena
code HZ for Hard Freeze Watch and Warning will be decommissioned
and the Freeze Watch and Warning VTEC phenomena code FZ will
remain. VTEC enables weather providers and vendors to automate and
tailor the product stream delivered to their clients. The Wind
Chill Warning, Watch, and Advisory currently contained within the
Winter Weather Message (WSW) product will be consolidated into the
Extreme Cold Warning, Extreme Cold Watch, and Cold Weather
Advisory in the Non-Precipitation Weather (NPW) product. The VTEC
phenomena code WC will be retired. Extreme Cold Watch and
Warning will retain its VTEC of EC and Cold Weather Advisory
will replace Wind Chill Advisory with the VTEC of CW.

If you have any questions or concerns with these changes and
additions please contact Paul Yura, Warning Coordination
Meteorologist at paul.yura@noaa.gov

$$