306
NOUS41 KWBC 191540
PNSWSH
SERVICE CHANGE NOTICE 25-99
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS SILVER SPRING MD
1040 AM EST FRI DEC 19 2025
TO: SUBSCRIBERS:
-NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE
-EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK
-NOAAPORT
-OTHER NWS PARTNERS AND NWS EMPLOYEES
FROM: MARY MULLUSKY, CHIEF
OPERATIONS SERVICES DIVISION
SUBJECT: CHANGES TO PUBLIC AND MARINE WEATHER ZONES FOR NWS
WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE NEW ORLEANS/BATON ROUGE, LA, EFFECTIVE
MARCH 3, 2026
EFFECTIVE ON TUE, MARCH 3, 2026, AT 3:00 PM CENTRAL STANDARD
TIME (CST), 2100 COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME (UTC), 2100
COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME (UTC), THE NWS WEATHER FORECAST
OFFICE IN SLIDELL, LOUISIANA (LIX) WILL CHANGE PUBLIC, FIRE, AND
MARINE WEATHER FORECAST ZONES ENCOMPASSING TERREBONNE,
LAFOURCHE, ST. CHARLES, JEFFERSON, AND PLAQUEMINES PARISHES IN
SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA, AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. AFTER THIS
CHANGE, ALL PUBLIC, FIRE AND MARINE FORECASTS AND RELATED
PRODUCTS WILL USE THE NEW ZONE NUMBERS AND NAMES SHOWN IN TABLE
2 BELOW.
IF MARCH 3, 2026 IS DECLARED A CRITICAL WEATHER DAY, THIS
IMPLEMENTATION WILL BE POSTPONED TO MARCH 4, 2026 AT 2100 UTC.
THESE CHANGES ARE INTENDED TO PROVIDE INCREASED FLEXIBILITY AND
IMPROVED ACCURACY OF FORECAST, WATCH, WARNING, AND ADVISORY
PRODUCTS IN THE PUBLIC, FIRE, AND MARINE WEATHER PROGRAMS.
THIRTEEN EXISTING ZONES ARE BEING RECONFIGURED INTO 19 SEPARATE
ZONES TO OPTIMIZE ISSUANCE OF LAND AND MARINE HAZARD PRODUCTS
ACROSS COASTAL SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA, AND TO BETTER DIFFERENTIATE
BETWEEN AREAS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE HURRICANE AND STORM
DAMAGE RISK REDUCTION SYSTEM LEVEES IN ST. CHARLES PARISH.
TABLE 1: CURRENT PUBLIC, FIRE AND MARINE ZONES AND CORRESPONDING
UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHIC CODES (UGC) FOR WFO NEW ORLEANS/BATON ROUGE
UGC: CURRENT ZONE NAME
----------------------------------
LAZ069: LOWER PLAQUEMINES PARISH
LAZ088: LOWER JEFFERSON PARISH
LAZ068: COASTAL JEFFERSON PARISH
LAZ059: UPPER LAFOURCHE PARISH
LAZ067: LOWER LAFOURCHE PARISH
LAZ065: UPPER TERREBONNE PARISH
LAZ066: LOWER TERREBONNE PARISH
LAZ060: ST. CHARLES PARISH
GMZ530: LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN AND LAKE MAUREPAS
GMZ538: BRETON SOUND
GMZ550: COASTAL WATERS FROM PORT FOURCHON LA TO LOWER
ATCHAFALAYA RIVER LA OUT 20 NM
GMZ552: COASTAL WATERS FROM THE SOUTHWEST PASS OF THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO PORT FOURCHON LOUISIANA OUT 20 NM
GMZ555: COASTAL WATERS FROM BOOTHVILLE LA TO SOUTHWEST PASS OF
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER OUT 20 NM
TABLE 2: NEW PUBLIC, FIRE AND MARINE ZONES AND CORRESPONDING UGC
FOR WHICH WFO NEW ORLEANS/BATON ROUGE WILL ISSUE FORECASTS AND
WARNINGS EFFECTIVE MARCH 3, 2026:
UGC: NEW PUBLIC ZONE NAME
----------------------------------
LAZ091: LOWER PLAQUEMINES PARISH
LAZ092: CENTRAL JEFFERSON PARISH
LAZ093: COASTAL JEFFERSON PARISH
LAZ094: UPPER LAFOURCHE PARISH
LAZ095: LOWER LAFOURCHE PARISH
LAZ096: UPPER TERREBONNE PARISH
LAZ097: LOWER TERREBONNE PARISH
LAZ098: UPPER ST. CHARLES PARISH
LAZ099: CENTRAL ST. CHARLES PARISH
LAZ100: LOWER ST. CHARLES PARISH
GMZ529: LAKE MAUREPAS
GMZ531: LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN
GMZ533: LAKE SALVADOR AND LAKE CATAOUATCHE
GMZ535: BRETON SOUND
GMZ541: TERREBONNE BAY
GMZ551: COASTAL WATERS FROM PORT FOURCHON LA TO LOWER
ATCHAFALAYA RIVER LA OUT 20 NM
GMZ543: BARATARIA BAY
GMZ553: COASTAL WATERS FROM THE SOUTHWEST PASS OF THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO PORT FOURCHON LA OUT 20 NM
GMZ554: COASTAL WATERS FROM BOOTHVILLE LA TO SOUTHWEST PASS OF
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER OUT 20 NM
TABLE 3: NWS PRODUCTS AFFECTED BY THE WFO NEW ORLEANS/BATON
ROUGE, LA, PUBLIC, MARINE, AND FIRE WEATHER ZONE CHANGES
EFFECTIVE MARCH 3, 2026:
PRODUCT NAME WMO HEADING AWIPS ID
------------- ----------- --------
AIR QUALITY ALERT AEUS74 KLIX AQALIX
ZONE FORECAST FPUS54 KLIX ZFPLIX
POINT FORECAST MATRICES FOUS54 KLIX PFMLIX
TABULAR STATE FORECAST FPUS64 KLIX SFTLIX
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FXUS64 KLIX AFDLIX
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT WWUS84 KLIX SPSLIX
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NOUS44 KLIX PNSLIX
NON-PRECIPITATION WATCH/WARNING/ WWUS74 KLIX NPWLIX
ADVISORY
TROPICAL CYCLONE WATCH/WARNING WTNT81 KNHC TCVAT1-5
LOCAL TROPICAL WATCH/WARNING WTUS84 KLIX TCVLIX
HURRICANE LOCAL STATEMENT WTUS84 KLIX HLSLIX
COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE WHUS44 KLIX CFWLIX
FLOOD WATCH WGUS64 KLIX FFALIX
HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK FGUS72 KLIX ESFLIX
WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE WWUS44 KLIX WSWLIX
FIRE WEATHER FORECAST FNUS54 KLIX FWFLIX
FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE WWUS84 KLIX RFWLIX
COASTAL WATERS FORECAST FZUS54 KLIX CWFLIX
MARINE WEATHER MESSAGE WHUS74 KLIX MWWLIX
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING WHUS54 KLIX SMWLIX
MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT FZUS74 KLIX MWSLIX
WATCH COUNTY NOTIFICATION WWUS64 KLIX WCNLIX
FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS REGARDING THE CHANGES ABOVE, PLEASE REFER
TO THIS WEBPAGE:
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/LIX/FORECASTZONECHANGES
NWS PARTNERS AND USERS SHOULD TAKE THE APPROPRIATE ACTION TO
ENSURE SYSTEMS RECOGNIZE THE NEW UGC (Z) AND NEW ZONE ALIGNMENTS
AND NAMES.
UPDATED ZONE SHAPEFILES ARE ONLINE AT:
HTTPS://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/GIS/PUBLICZONES
HTTPS://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/GIS/FIREZONES
HTTPS://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/GIS/MARINEZONES
HTTPS://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/GIS/COUNTIES
FINAL VERSIONS OF THESE SHAPEFILES WILL BE AVAILABLE ON FEBRUARY
13, 2026.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT:
MIKE BUCHANAN
METEOROLOGIST-IN-CHARGE
SLIDELL, LA
985-649-0429 X 222
NATIONAL SERVICE CHANGE NOTICES ARE ONLINE AT:
HTTPS://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NOTIFICATION/
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