214  
NOUS41 KWBC 281240  
PNSWSH  
 
SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 25-31  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS SILVER SPRING MD  
840 AM EDT FRI MARCH 28 2025  
 
TO: SUBSCRIBERS:  
-NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE  
-EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK  
-NOAAPORT  
OTHER NWS PARTNERS AND NWS EMPLOYEES  
 
FROM: JUDY GHIRARDELLI  
NWS OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION  
METEOROLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY  
 
SUBJECT: PROBABILISTIC TROPICAL CYCLONE STORM SURGE (P-SURGE)  
MODEL UPGRADE: EFFECTIVE APRIL 29, 2025  
 
EFFECTIVE ON OR ABOUT APRIL 29, 2025, STARTING WITH THE 1200  
COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME (UTC) CYCLE, THE NATIONAL CENTERS  
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION (NCEP) WILL UPGRADE THE  
PROBABILISTIC TROPICAL CYCLONE STORM SURGE MODEL (P-SURGE) TO  
VERSION 3.1.  
 
P-SURGE IS BASED ON AN ENSEMBLE OF SEA, LAKE, AND OVERLAND  
SURGES FROM HURRICANES (SLOSH) MODEL RUNS WHICH ARE DERIVED FROM  
THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER (NHC) OFFICIAL ADVISORY ALONG WITH  
NHC'S HISTORICAL ERRORS IN FORECASTS OF THE STORM'S TRACK, SIZE,  
AND INTENSITY.P-SURGE CURRENTLY IS RUN ON A CASE-BY-CASE BASIS  
IN ADVANCE OF HURRICANES AND TROPICAL STORMS THAT MAY IMPACT THE  
ATLANTIC AND GULF COASTS OF THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES (CONUS)  
AS WELL AS FOR STORMS THAT MAY IMPACT PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S.  
VIRGIN ISLANDS. WITH THIS IMPLEMENTATION, P-SURGE WILL BE ABLE  
TO BE RUN FOR HAWAII.  
 
P-SURGE VERSION 3.1 INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING UPDATES:  
 
A. CREATION OF P-SURGE PRODUCTS FOR HAWAII THAT ACCOUNT FOR  
SURGE, TIDE, AND WAVES, SIMILAR TO THE P-SURGE PRODUCTS  
AVAILABLE FOR PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS.P-SURGE  
PRODUCTS FOR THE CONUS ONLY ACCOUNT FOR SURGE AND TIDE. THIS  
IMPLEMENTATION REPRESENTS THE FIRST TIME THAT P-SURGE WILL  
PROVIDE GUIDANCE FOR THE HAWAII DOMAIN.  
B. MORE EFFICIENT CALCULATION OF WAVES WHICH REDUCES THE  
PROCESSING TIME FOR PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS  
PRODUCTS.  
C. DISCONTINUING THE PROBABILITY OF > 0 FEET ABOVE GROUND  
LEVEL PRODUCTS FOR THE CONUS AND PUERTO RICO / U.S. VIRGIN  
ISLANDS DOMAINS.  
D. VARIOUS CODE OPTIMIZATIONS.  
 
DISSEMINATION CHANGES:  
 
NCEP NOMADS AND FTPPRD WEB SERVICES:  
THERE WILL BE NO CHANGE TO THE DIRECTORY STRUCTURE ON NOMADS AND  
FTPPRD. ALL DATA FROM CONUS, PUERTO RICO / U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS,  
AND HAWAII PRODUCTS WILL BE PRESENT IN THE SAME DIRECTORY:  
HTTPS://NOMADS.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/PUB/DATA/NCCF/COM/PSURGE/PROD/  
FTP://FTPPRD.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/DATA/NCCF/COM/PSURGE/PROD/  
 
HOWEVER, WE ARE INTRODUCING HAWAII GRIB2 FILES, WHICH WILL HAVE  
"HAWAII_312P5M" (VS "CONUS_625M" FOR CONUS OR "PUERTORI_625M"  
FOR PUERTO RICO / U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS) IN THEIR FILE NAMES.  
 
EXAMPLES OF NEW NOMADS/FTPPRD HAWAII GRIB2 FILENAMES:  
 
PSURGE.TYYYMMDDHHZ.BB##YYYY_EEE_CUM_AGL.H102.HAWAII_312P5M.GRIB2  
PSURGE.TYYYMMDDHHZ.BB##YYYY_EEE_INC_AGL.H102.HAWAII_312P5M.GRIB2  
PSURGE.TYYYMMDDHHZ.BB##YYYY_GTF_CUM_AGL.H102.HAWAII_312P5M.GRIB2  
PSURGE.TYYYMMDDHHZ.BB##YYYY_GTF_INC_AGL.H102.HAWAII_312P5M.GRIB2  
(WHERE YYYYMMDDHH IS THE DATE AND HOUR,  
BB## IS THE STORM NUMBER,  
YYYY IS THE YEAR,  
EE IS THE EXCEEDANCE ABOVE GROUND LEVEL (10, 20, 30,  
40, 50, 90), AND  
F IS THE FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL (1, 2, 3, ..., 20))  
 
PSURGE.TYYYMMDDHHZ.BB##YYYY_EEE_CUM_DAT.H102.HAWAII_312P5M.GRIB2  
PSURGE.TYYYMMDDHHZ.BB##YYYY_GTF_CUM_DAT.H102.HAWAII_312P5M.GRIB2  
(WHERE YYYYMMDDHH IS THE DATE AND HOUR,  
BB## IS THE STORM NUMBER,  
YYYY IS THE YEAR,  
EE IS THE EXCEEDANCE ABOVE DATUM (10, 20, 30, ...,  
90),  
AND  
F IS THE FEET ABOVE DATUM (1, 2, 3, ..., 20))  
 
PSURGE.TYYYMMDDHHZ.BB##YYYY_EEE_INC_DAT.H102.HAWAII_312P5M.GRIB2  
(WHERE YYYYMMDDHH IS THE DATE AND HOUR,  
BB## IS THE STORM NUMBER,  
YYYY IS THE YEAR, AND  
EE IS THE EXCEEDANCE ABOVE DATUM (10, 20, 30, 40, 50,  
90))  
 
ADDITIONALLY, WE ARE INTRODUCING SHAPEFILES, WHICH WILL HAVE  
SUFFIXES OF "HI.ZIP" (VS ".ZIP" FOR CONUS OR "PR.ZIP" FOR PUERTO  
RICO / U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS) IN THEIR FILENAMES.  
 
EXAMPLES OF THE NEW NOMADS/FTPPRD HAWAII SHAPEFILE FILENAMES:  
 
SHPFILES/PSURGE_TYYYYMMDDHHZ_BB##YYYY_EEE_CUM_AGL_HI.ZIP  
SHPFILES/PSURGE_TYYYYMMDDHHZ_BB##YYYY_EEE_INC_AGL_HI.ZIP  
SHPFILES/PSURGE_TYYYYMMDDHHZ_BB##YYYY_GTF_CUM_AGL_HI.ZIP  
SHPFILES/PSURGE_TYYYYMMDDHHZ_BB##YYYY_GTF_INC_AGL_HI.ZIP  
(WHERE YYYYMMDDHH IS THE DATE AND HOUR,  
BB## IS THE STORM NUMBER,  
YYYY IS THE YEAR,  
EE IS THE EXCEEDANCE ABOVE GROUND LEVEL (10, 20, 30,  
40, 50, 90), AND  
F IS THE FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL (1, 2, 3, ..., 20))  
 
SHPFILES/PSURGE_TYYYYMMDDHHZ_BB##YYYY_EEE_CUM_DAT_HI.ZIP  
SHPFILES/PSURGE_TYYYYMMDDHHZ_BB##YYYY_GTF_CUM_DAT_HI.ZIP  
(WHERE YYYYMMDDHH IS THE DATE AND HOUR,  
BB## IS THE STORM NUMBER,  
YYYY IS THE YEAR,  
EE IS THE EXCEEDANCE ABOVE DATUM (10, 20, 30, ... 90),  
AND  
F IS THE FEET ABOVE DATUM (1, 2, 3, ..., 20))  
 
WE ARE DISCONTINUING THE PROBABILITY OF GREATER THAN ZERO FEET  
ABOVE GROUND LEVEL PRODUCTS.  
 
EXAMPLES OF NOMADS/FTPPRD FILES BEING REMOVED:  
 
PSURGE.TYYYYMMDDHHZ.BB##YYYY_GT0_CUM_AGL.H102.CONUS_625M.GRIB2  
PSURGE.TYYYYMMDDHHZ.BB##YYYY_GT0_INC_AGL.H102.CONUS_625M.GRIB2  
PSURGE.TYYYYMMDDHHZ.BB##YYYY_GT0_CUM_AGL.H102.PUERTORI_625M.GRIB  
2  
PSURGE.TYYYYMMDDHHZ.BB##YYYY_GT0_INC_AGL.H102.PUERTORI_625M.GRIB  
2  
SHPFILES/PSURGE_TYYYYMMDDHHZ_BB##YYYY_GT0_CUM_AGL.ZIP  
SHPFILES/PSURGE_TYYYYMMDDHHZ_BB##YYYY_GT0_INC_AGL.ZIP  
SHPFILES/PSURGE_TYYYYMMDDHHZ_BB##YYYY_GT0_CUM_AGL_PR.ZIP  
SHPFILES/PSURGE_TYYYYMMDDHHZ_BB##YYYY_GT0_INC_AGL_PR.ZIP  
(WHERE YYYYMMDDHH IS THE DATE AND HOUR,  
BB## IS THE STORM NUMBER, AND  
YYYY IS THE YEAR)  
 
NOAAPORT/SBN:  
THE PRODUCTS ARE AVAILABLE OVER THE SBN AND NOAAPORT IN GRIB2  
FORMAT. A COMPLETE LIST OF WMO HEADER IDS FOR THE PRODUCTS CAN  
BE FOUND ONLINE AT THE TOP OF THE METEOROLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT  
LABORATORY'S STORM SURGE TECHNICAL NOTICES HERE:  
HTTPS://VLAB.NOAA.GOV/WEB/MDL/STORM-SURGE-TECHNICAL-NOTICES  
 
OR MORE DIRECTLY AT:  
HTTPS://VLAB.NOAA.GOV/DOCUMENTS/6609493/7858383/MAR2025-P-SURGE-  
V3.1-HEADERS-ACTUAL.PDF/4C5385E0-D176-C94F-9DC0-  
7EF999C931C5?T=1743002554830  
 
NOTE, DUE TO BANDWIDTH LIMITATIONS, SOME OF THE PRODUCTS ON  
NOMADS/FTPPTRD ARE NOT DISSEMINATED OVER THE SBN. THE SBN WILL  
CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING:  
 
6-HOURLY CUMULATIVE AND INCREMENTAL PRODUCTS TO 102 HOURS:  
A. (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 90)% EXCEEDANCE ABOVE GROUND LEVEL  
B. PROBABILITY OF > (1, 2, 3, ..., 10) FEET ABOVE GROUND  
LEVEL  
 
102-HOURLY CUMULATIVE PRODUCTS:  
A. (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 90)% EXCEEDANCE ABOVE DATUM  
B. PROBABILITY OF > (2, 3, 4, ..., 15) FEET ABOVE DATUM  
 
WE ARE DISCONTINUING THE PROBABILITY OF > 0 FEET ABOVE GROUND  
LEVEL PRODUCTS. THE GRIB2 PRODUCTS HAVE A WMO HEADER SCHEME OF  
"T1-T2-A1-A2-I-I CCCC" DESCRIBED HERE:  
HTTPS://VLAB.NOAA.GOV/DOCUMENTS/6609493/7858383/MAR2025-P-SURGE-  
V3.1-HEADERS-SCHEME.PDF/374CD7A8-096B-6AFF-59D5-  
F0CE4985C7E9?T=1743002561991  
 
IN THAT SCHEME T2=C OR D AND A1=A INDICATES A "PROBABILITY OF  
SURGE > 0 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL," SO THOSE PRODUCTS WILL NO  
LONGER BE GENERATED. SPECIFICALLY FOR CCCC=KWEV T1=Y OR Z, AND  
CCCC=KWEW T1=Z THE FOLLOWING T2-A1-A2-I-I HEADERS WILL NO LONGER  
BE GENERATED:  
 
CAB03, CAB09, CAB15, CAB21, CAC03, CAC09, CAC15, CAC21,  
CAD03, CAD09, CAD15, CAD21, CAE03, CAE09, CAE15, CAE21,  
CAF03, CAF09, CAF15, CAF21  
 
DAB03, DAB09, DAB15, DAB21, DAC03, DAC09, DAC15, DAC21,  
DAD03, DAD09, DAD15, DAD21, DAE03, DAE09, DAE15, DAE21,  
DAF03, DAF09, DAF15, DAF21  
 
SEVERAL CANNED TEST RUNS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR TESTING. THE  
DATA WILL BE HOSTED ON THE NCEP HTTPS SITES AT THE FOLLOWING  
URLS WHEN THEY ARE AVAILABLE, ALTHOUGH THEY MAY NOT BE PRESENT  
FOR THE ENTIRE 30-DAY PERIOD:  
HTTPS://NOMADS.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/PUB/DATA/NCCF/COM/PSURGE/PARA/  
HTTPS://FTP.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/DATA/NCCF/COM/PSURGE/PARA/  
HTTPS://FTPPRD.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/DATA/NCCF/COM/PSURGE/PARA  
 
NCEP ENCOURAGES USERS TO ENSURE THEIR DECODERS ARE FLEXIBLE AND  
ARE ABLE TO ADEQUATELY HANDLE CHANGES IN CONTENT ORDER, CHANGES  
IN THE SCALING FACTOR COMPONENT WITHIN THE PRODUCT DEFINITION  
SECTION (PDS) OF THE GRIB FILES, AND ANY VOLUME CHANGES THAT MAY  
BE FORTHCOMING. THESE ELEMENTS MAY CHANGE WITH FUTURE NCEP  
MODEL IMPLEMENTATIONS.NCEP WILL MAKE EVERY ATTEMPT TO ALERT  
USERS TO THESE CHANGES PRIOR TO ANY IMPLEMENTATIONS.  
 
ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS OR REQUESTS REGARDING THIS  
IMPLEMENTATION SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE CONTACTS BELOW. WE  
WILL REVIEW ANY FEEDBACK AND DECIDE WHETHER TO PROCEED.  
 
FOR QUESTIONS REGARDING THE SCIENCE CHANGES, PLEASE CONTACT  
ARTHUR TAYLOR  
METEOROLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY  
ARTHUR.TAYLOR@NOAA.GOV  
 
FOR QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DATAFLOW ASPECTS, PLEASE CONTACT:  
MARGARET CURTIS  
NCEP CENTRAL OPERATIONS HPC DATAFLOW TEAM LEAD  
NCEP.PMB.DATAFLOW@NOAA.GOV  
 
NATIONAL SERVICE CHANGE NOTICES ARE ONLINE AT:  
HTTPS://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NOTIFICATION/  
 
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.

The Nexlab HPC Page Main Text Page