NOAA USD SEATTLE ·- NOAA' TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM NWS CR-75 COMPLETE GUIDE TO CANADIAN PRODUCTS IN AFOS · Craig Sanders Center Weather Service Unit Farmington, Minnesota J ~U.LY }985 ·u"s. DEPARTMENT OF / National Oceanic and National Weather COMMERCE Atmospheric Administration I Service .U61 Nn 7c; -· NOAA TECHNICAL MEMORANOUM NWS CR~75 COMPLETE GUIDE TO CANADIAN PRODUCTS IN AFOS Craig Sanders Center Weather Service Unit Farmington, Minnesota 1 AUG 1§{3§ NOAA library, E/AI216 7600 Sand Polnt Way N.E. Bin C-15700 • Seattle, WA 98115 July 1985 UNITED STATES I Nallenal Dc11nle ••• I Nallonal Weather DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Alrnespborlc A•rntnlslraU•• Service Malcol11 la~rlto, Secrolary John V. Byrne. Administrator Archard E. Hallgren. • Assistant Administrator COMPLETE GUIDE TO CANADIAN PRODUCTS IN AFOS (~ .(~j , C 0 N T E N T S PUBLIC AVIATION DATA MAPS DA.TA MAPS YUKON TERRITORY PlS Pl A7 A3 BRITISH COLUMBIA .Pl6-P21 P2-P3 A8-A12 A3 ALBERTA P22-P24 P4 Al3-Al4 A4 SASKATCHEWAN P2S-P26 PS-P6 AlS-Al6 A4 MANITOBA •P27-P28 P7-P8 A17-Al8 A4 ONTARIO P29-P33 pg Al9-A22 AS QUEBEC P34-P37 P10-Pll A23-A26 AS MARITIMES P38-P39 Pll-P12 A27-A28 AS (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) C)'· NEWFOUNDLAND, LABRADOR P40-P41 P13 A29-A30 AS NORTHWEST TERRITORIES P42-P46 P14 A31-A3S A6 AVIATION AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY A1 WINDS ALOFT FORECAST POINTS A2 APPENDIX I I-1 - I-7 3-LETTER ENCODE HMO NUMBER ENCODE APPENDIX II II-1 - II-6 3-LETTER DECODE . APPENDIX II I III-1 - III-4 )" I~MO NU~1BER DECODE .•,. ) ii P R E F A C E Canadian weather information is both plentiful and readily available. However, to most of us unfamiliar with Canada, getting the data we need in an efficient manner has been nearly impossible until now. The public has had to endure long waits on the phone, NWS people have been caught in a frustrating search for data and all too often this desire to serve has encroached upon higher priority duties. Data has appeared to be unavailable because it was regionally routed along the NDC or request/reply was not available during period of peak traffic. In addition, many people are not even sure of what to ask for because of the infrequent requests for Canadian data. So when there is a need, people could never be sure of the AFOS !D's. Finally, Canadian data has undergone frequent reorganization within AFOS and even Canada itself. These changes were never well-documented for the field. Canadian forecasts are prepared much like U.S. forecasts. A large area is divided into much smaller regions, and then regions are grouped together according to similarities of weather. In the U.S. we divide states into numbered zones and then group the zones according to similar .··--., weather. In Canada, the provinces and territories are divided into regions l which are each given names such as Kindersley, Severn River, Howe Sound ·J ~lhistler, and Southern Grain Belt. This would imply that some knowledge of local geography would be needed in order to use the forecasts. Each of the major worded forecasts - public, extended and aviation area forecasts - use named regions. However, there is a catch. Each forecast type uses its own unique set of regions. For example, Val D'or, Quebec is in the "Val D'or" region in the Canadian FA; it is in the "Abitibi-Tamiscaninique" region in the public forecast; and for the extended forecast, the "Northwestern Quebec" region is used. Respectively, the AFOS ID' s are HULFAVWUL, WULSFPQEl and WULEFPQE. Tt·yi ng to memorize regions and !D's under such conditions is impossible. These factors and more led to the development of this Guide. The Guide is divided into two sections, one for. pulll ic.-related data and one for aviation related data. Experience at ~ISFO 11inneapolis has shown that people usually call for one type of data or the other. Pilots obviously have different information needs than do vacationers or anglers. Some NWS offices may wish to split the Guide making the public portion available to the person answering general calls, and ha·ting the aviation section near the briefing area. iii Within each section data are presented by province in an east-west .() order. The cities within each province are then arranged alphabetically. This method is used to aid the person looking for information. Once again, experience at HSFO ~linneapolis prompted this approach. People's plans would often take them straight north either just over the international border or they would enter through one province and travel to the adjacent province or two. The user of this Guide then only has to flip forward or backward a page or two to locate the needed data. The ultimate result which the user will find by using this Guide is that by turning to a single page, he/she can get all the information needed simply by looking at a single line on that page. Any call will be answered completely, confidently, and efficiently - something that has been totally out of reach until now. AFOS System Managers can use the Guide to better judge which products are needed in the database. ASM~s should know that printed forecasts from Canada are almost routinely sent in two parts. Amendments contain only that portion of the forecast being amended. Therefore, you should decide to save at least four versions of each public or aviation area forecast. r iv HOW TO USE THE GUIDE The layout of this Guide is such that no geographical knowledge of Canada is needed . The maps were chosen or remade to provide adequate coverage, completeness, simplicity and readability. Data is arranged so that a single line on a single ~would contain all data pertinent to an aviation- or public-related information request. It is perhaps easier to show how easy this Guide makes data acquisition by taking a few examples . A Business Trip Let 's say someone wants to fly to Toronto for a few days. You or the caller may not know what province Toronto is in. No problem! 1. If you are not sure, go to Appendix I. Look up Toronto in this alphabetical list. It says it is in Ontario. 2. Turn now to the public portion and look for the Ontario pages. 3. Find Toronto in the alphabetical station listing. ) 4. The "Public Forecast" column lists the AFOS ID for this part of Ontario as YYZSFPOTl. 5. The adjacent column "Public Forecast Region" tells you that Toronto is in the "Lake Ontario" region. 6. Call up the forecast and look for the portion of the forecast which describes weather for the "Lake Ontario .. region. NOTE: Canadian worded forecasts are often written in two parts. If what you are looking for is not there, request the previous version. This is why it is up to AFOS sites to store four versions of the desired products. 7. Another option available v10uld be a selected cities type of table. Looking across on the same page under 11 l4eather Summary Tables" you can refer to cs:NMC or TPTCAN. Note that other Ontario stations on this page are not in a weather summary table. 8. Similar procedures would apply to requesting the extended forecasts. They too are shown on this same single line. v .o Small Airplane Flight to a Remote Resort Area of Canada A common request in states bordering Canada· is one where a group of people want to fly to some obscure or little heard of place. This is a type of service which has been most frustrating to NWS people. No longer! A regrettable remark comes from some NWS and FAA briefers like "We just try to brief 'em to Winnipeg" (to clear customs). We can now do better than that by giving a complete route briefing. This can save them a lot of money if the weather would prevent them from making the trip in a provate plane. Let's say you want to fly a small plane from Duluth, Minnesota to a lake "about 100 miles north-northwest of Grand Rapids, Manitoba". In this situation, there is no FT for their destination and as an unprepared briefer, you don't know if the pilot will fly over any cities. that have FT's. Assume the pilot informs you that he plans to land at Winnipeg to clear customs and refuel for the remaind~r of the flight. 1. Turn to the aviation portion and find the Manitoba pages. 2. Looking at Winnipeg, you can readily see by looking across the page that there is a wealth of data available including a. two SA reporting points ) b. an FT c. a TAF d. an area Forecast e. winds aloft f. radar 3. The briefing from Duluth to Winnipeg would be routine since most of the trip covers U.S. territory, l'Jinnipeg is close to the border and there is so much data available. 4. Now you will need a map to glance at as you search the data pages. Find the "Aviation Weather Forecast Regions" map covering the central part of Canada. 5. The second leg of the flight is from Winnipeg to an obscure spot "100 miles north-northwest of Grand Rapids". With no FT's that you are aware of, the only option is to use the Area Forecast. 6. Looking at the data pages you see that Winnipeg is in the Winnipeg Region; Grand Rapids is in the region by that same name. Using the map you can see the intended route of lfight would take the ·•) pilot from the Winnipeg over the Gimli and Grand Rapids regions.