New Milford, Pennsylvania

... National Weather Service Binghamton will be sending alerts for
dangerous snow squalls for the upcoming winter season...

Beginning December 15th, 2009, the National Weather Service in
Binghamton will be sending the sps eas/same NOAA Weather Radio
event code when special weather statements are issued for
dangerous non-lake effect snow squalls. The sps eas code is
officially sanctioned by the fcc.

What does this mean?
If you have a same NOAA Weather Radio or an eas decoder, you can
get alerts when NWS Binghamton issues special weather statements
for dangerous snow squalls. It is important to note that we will
not alert the eas or same NOAA weather radios for all snow
squalls or every hazardous Road condition. Alerts will only be
sent for the snow squalls that are expected to have highest
impact with sudden whiteout conditions, rapid onset of slippery
roads and/or high winds. In the past, these type of snow squalls
have caused numerous traffic accidents, and multiple car pile-ups
on our interstates, turnpikes and the thruway with deadly
consequences.

So, if you are a broadcaster with an eas decoder, the alerts will
be available to play and relay if you choose. We encourage you to
do so as we anticipate only a few of these alerts per year.

Important:
if you do not want to relay or play these eas messages, or Don/T
want to receive these alerts on your same NOAA Weather Radio, you
will have to make sure the sps code is turned off on your eas
decoder or same NOAA Weather Radio.

Why are we doing this?
The sudden onset of whiteout conditions, rapid snow accumulation,
and high winds with intense snow squalls creates extremely
dangerous and even deadly travel conditions. In Pennsylvania,
where statistics on snow squall fatalities have been kept for the
last 10 years, such snow squalls have killed more people than
large scale widespread snowstorms. National Weather Service
forecasters have the ability to detect dangerous snow squalls with
Doppler radar and track such storms with timing and impacted
locations. Over the last couple Winters, NWS forecasters have used
the Special Weather Statement for dangerous snow squalls, which
gets some dissemination via our websites, NOAA family of services,
private company websites and email services. However, we feel that
by triggering alerts on same NOAA weather radios and reaching the
eas, we would significantly broaden dissemination of timely and
critical information on impending snow squalls. This, in turn,
could save lives by giving people notice of the arrival and
locations of dangerous snow squalls.

How long are we planning on doing this? We will be testing this
concept for the upcoming winter season beginning December 15th,
2009.

For more information or if you have any questions... contact David
nicosia warning coordination meteorologist for noaa's National
Weather Service in Binghamton at 607-770-9531 x 223 or by email at
David.Nicosia@noaa.Gov