Ultraviolet (UV) Program Status Jim Lee Fire & Public Weather Services Branch Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services June 24, 2004

Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services2 Outline UV Program HistoryUV Program History Product ExamplesProduct Examples ‘UV Advisory System’‘UV Advisory System’ –Challenges –Next steps

June 24, 2004Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services3 UV Program History April 1994 – NWS starts forecasting UV Index (UVI) for 58 U.S. citiesApril 1994 – NWS starts forecasting UV Index (UVI) for 58 U.S. cities Summer 1999 – EPA, CDC, American Academy of Dermatologists, American Cancer Society & members of Congress ask NWS to expand UVI forecast to 160 cities.

June 24, 2004Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services4 UV Program History (cont.) In 1999, the EPA, private sector & medical community the NWS decided to: Continue to produce UVI for the original 58 cities Deliver over the Internet in gridded format the data necessary for the private sector to create UVI over the entire U.S. Not produce a contoured map graphic of UV on NWS Web pages Last month, U.S. adopted “Global UV Index”

June 24, 2004Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services5 UVI Produced for the following Cities Albuquerque Detroit Norfolk Anchorage Dover Oklahoma City Atlantic City Hartford Omaha Atlanta Honolulu Philadelphia P Baltimore Houston Phoenix Billings Indianapolis Pittsburgh Bismarck Jackson MS Portland ME Boise Jacksonville Portland OR P Boston Las Vegas Providence R Buffalo Little Rock Raleigh Burlington VT Los Angeles Salt Lake City Charleston WV Louisville San Francisco Charleston SC Memphis San Juan Cheyenne Miami Seattle Chicago Milwaukee Sioux Falls S Cleveland Minneapolis St. Louis Concord Mobile Tampa W Dallas New Orleans Washington DC Denver New York Wichita Des Moines

June 24, 2004Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services6 UV Product Examples NOAA/EPA ULTRAVIOLET INDEX /UVI/ FORECAST NWS CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER CAMP SPRINGS MD 200 PM EDT WED JUN VALID JUN AT SOLAR NOON /APPROXIMATELY NOON LOCAL STANDARD TIME OR 100 PM LOCAL DAYLIGHT TIME/ THE UV INDEX IS CATEGORIZED BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION AS FOLLOWS: UVI EXPOSURE LEVEL LOW MODERATE 6 7 HIGH VERY HIGH 11 AND GREATER EXTREME FOR HEALTH RELATED ISSUES...CONTACT EPA AT FOR TECHNICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE UV INDEX.... GO TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE UV INDEX WEB PAGE: CITY STATE UVI ALBUQUERQUE NM 10 LITTLE ROCK AR 7 ANCHORAGE AK 4 LOS ANGELES CA 9 ATLANTIC CITY NJ 7 LOUISVILLE KY 8 ATLANTA GA 6 MEMPHIS TN 7 Etc…

June 24, 2004Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services7 UV Product Examples (cont.)

June 24, 2004Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services8 ‘UV Advisory System’ 2003 – EPA asked the NWS to work with them in developing a UV Advisory system for alerting Americans about unusually high or anomalous UVI2003 – EPA asked the NWS to work with them in developing a UV Advisory system for alerting Americans about unusually high or anomalous UVI

June 24, 2004Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services9 ‘UV Advisory System’ Challenges Public/Private Partnership Roles (see 2003 NRC Fair Weather Report)?Public/Private Partnership Roles (see 2003 NRC Fair Weather Report)? What would this product be (advisory, alert, etc.)?What would this product be (advisory, alert, etc.)? What format (gridded, text)?What format (gridded, text)? Who will issue (EPA, CPC or WFO)?Who will issue (EPA, CPC or WFO)? How will this be disseminated (web, NWR, etc.)?How will this be disseminated (web, NWR, etc.)? Training/Education/Outreach?Training/Education/Outreach?

June 24, 2004Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services10 ‘UV Advisory System’ Next Steps Late Summer 2004 – Initiate requirements developmentLate Summer 2004 – Initiate requirements development January 2005 – Update at next Partner’s WorkshopJanuary 2005 – Update at next Partner’s Workshop