[sbe-eas] Weird NWS alert with bad FIPS?

[Ken Evans]

Down in the Mid-Atlantic region the NWS Wakefield (AKQ) on the Salisbury NWR issued an event with an unknown code "FSH" for that notice and did it a second time this past Monday.  Our EAS box fortunately will not forward it.  So, no FALSE Alert was broadcast by us, or reported.  The first one was about 2 weeks ago, and another one went this week on Monday evening. It had to do with a notice from the US Fish and Wildlife to advise mariners to avoid a whale breeding area, or if they must go through the zone to reduce speed to no more than 10 miles per hour, to avoid hitting whales.  The Area referenced was off Atlantic City.   I looked for where online but did not see the area with a large warning area.  There were some marking near the mouths of the Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay.  I guess the used "WHL" for Whale in your area.  Our alert referenced every marine area and FIPS from Sussex in Delaware, to both Maryland coastal counties along the Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay down into Virginia within range for the Salisbury NWR transmitter.  By the way, the internet site I saw said the mating season lasts until sometime in April.  I hope we do not have to see it repeated until then.

I contacted our Maryland NWS SECC representative about it and he said it was not supposed to be done as EAS.  He said it was intended as an announcement and should not be run as EAS.

Ken Evans
________________________________
From: sbe-eas <sbe-eas-bounces at sbe.org> on behalf of Aaron Read <readaaron at friedbagels.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2022 2:03 PM
To: SBE EAS Exchange - a mail list for discussion about the Emergency Alert System and other emergency communication issues. <sbe-eas at sbe.org>
Subject: [sbe-eas] Weird NWS alert with bad FIPS?

Did anyone else get a weird NWS alert with bad FIPS?  Below is from my Sage 3644 at WPVD in Providence RI but I know at least one other station got it too - presumably everyone monitoring the WX on Neutaconkanut Hill (which is the WX for all of RI) got it, and our State EAS Plan does mandate monitoring it.   I'm curious if this happened outside of RI, though.   Note several of those FIPS are for locations nowhere near New England.

- Aaron

12/14/22 13:16:01
Unknown Event, Matched filter OTHERS, Received on Monitor 3. Log Only.
The National Weather Service has issued an Unknown Event (WHL) for 73256, Buzzards Bay, Coastal waters from Nantucket MA to Marthas Vineyard MA to Block Island RI to Montauk NY Southeast to 20 nm, Vineyard Sound, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island Sound, 73273, 73805, Bristol, RI, 73810, all of Rhode Island, Block Island Sound, Kent, RI, 73900, 73800, Newport, RI, all of Massachusetts, Providence, RI, Washington, RI, and Bristol, MA beginning at 1:13 pm and ending at 7:13 pm (KBOX/NWS)
ZCZC-WXR-WHL-073256-073234-073255-073233-073236-073235-073273-073805-044001-073810-044000-073237-044003-073900-073800-044005-025000-044007-044009-025005+0600-3481813-KBOX/NWS-

--
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Aaron Read
readaaron at friedbagels.com<mailto:readaaron at friedbagels.com>
www.friedbagels.com<http://www.friedbagels.com>
"Engineering: it's like math but LOUDER!"

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