[EAS] NOAA RWT

[Tim Schott - NWS Federal]

Adrienne,

When NWS Headquarters first learned about the use of Wednesday, October 4, 2018 as the backup date for the National EAS Test, the topic of conducting the weekly NWR RWT on October 4th was discussed. The issue is most salient for our WFOs with transmitters in the Pacific Time Zone, since RWTs are usually conducted around 11 am Local Time. It was also the understanding of Headquarters that many broadcasters log, but do not convey, NWS-issued RWTs. Thus, since NWS will not convey the NPT message on our transmitters and since many broadcasters do not convey the RWT, we did not see much potential confusion resulting from Forecast Offices proceeding with their weekly RWT.

However, the official Headquarters position was to defer decisions to proceed or not proceed on the RWT with our Regional Headquarters Offices. In particular, our Western Region Headquarters provided an initial recommendation to their offices to not conduct the RWT.  However, it became apparent that many local emergency managers preferred to maintain the RWT.  Therefore, our Western Region Headquarters decided to defer the decision on conducting the RWT with their local WFOs.  Thus far, it appears most WFOs will conduct the RWT tomorrow.

I hope this helps to explain the NWS position concerning those offices which traditionally conduct RWTs tomorrow at 11 am local time.

If there are SECC members in states near or bordering the Pacific Time Zone who have concerns about Weather Service Offices conducting an RWT tomorrow at 11 am PDT, then the respective EAS Chair should immediately contact their designated NWS EAS State Liaison Officer as soon as possible to further discuss these concerns.

Tim

Tim Schott
Meteorologist, NWS Dissemination Services
Office: 301-427-9336
Cell: 703-314-4343

On Tue, Oct 2, 2018 at 4:29 PM, Adrienne Abbott <nevadaeas at charter.net> wrote:
>Is NWS going to cancel tomorrow's NOAA Weather Radio RWT? Normally, the RWT would be sent about 20 minutes before the scheduled National EAS Test. It might be confusing to have the RWT so close to the NPT.
>Adrienne
> 
>Adrienne Abbott, W6BCY
>Nevada EAS Chair
>"Radio burps, it cries, it needs to be fed all the time, it requires constant attention, but we love it." Jim Aaron WGLN
>