NOUS41 KWBC 161430 NEWS Public Information Statement 23-65 National Weather Service Headquarters Silver Spring MD 930 AM EST Thu Nov 16 2023 To: Subscribers: -NOAA Weather Wire Service -Emergency Managers Weather Information Network -NOAAPort Other NWS Partners, Users and Employees From: Mark Glaudemans Chief, Water Resources Services Branch Subject: Soliciting Comments through December 15, 2023 Regarding Evaluation of National Water Prediction Service (NWPS) Website Proposed to Replace the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) Website The NWS has developed a new web interface for dissemination of its water prediction information. The new gateway, NWPS, is designed to make it easier for our partners and the public to access expanded river forecast information, observed water and precipitation data, and other resources, including flood inundation maps. An Application Programming Interface (API) capability is added to allow improved user access to core data sets. The NWS is proposing to replace the AHPS website with the NWPS website. Comments are being solicited through December 15, 2023 on the proposed NWPS website as a replacement for the AHPS website. Improvements with the NWPS website include, but are not limited to: - Optimization of viewing on mobile devices. - Consolidation of information in a single geospatial mapping interface that will allow users to navigate via easy, intuitive controls to quickly access data and information. - Ability for users to change basemaps to better highlight and explore desired features as well as display other important data layers for examining hydrologic hazards. - Gage hydrograph views will better utilize dynamic plots generated on-demand rather than using pre-generated views, which enable faster speed and more timely data for users. - Incorporation of the National Water Model guidance into both the spatial map display as well as the location specific hydrograph pages. - Functionality of all display, mapping, and hydrograph will be powered by new Water API services, which are available for public/partner access to drive decision support tools. - Experimental Flood Inundation Mapping products will be available for limited portions of the United States. See: https://www.weather.gov/media/notification/pdf_2023_24/pns23- 55_exp_flood_inundation_mapping_services_aaa.pdf Certain displays and tools in the AHPS website are now presented via different display controls in the NWPS. The following classes of information are no longer selectable from tabs located above the main display on AHPS and are from right margin display controls on NWPS: - River Observations and River Forecasts tabs on the national map webpage - Long-Range River Flood Risk tab on the AHPS national map webpage - Precipitation tab on the national map webpage - River Download tab included within the Data and Web Services under the “About” dropdown menu Drop-down menus on the national map web page include the ability to select State, Weather Forecast Office, River Forecast Center, and Water Resources Regions data views. A new search option text box on the top left of the map view facilitates resetting the map frame to the location of interest. The NWPS replacement website has also resulted in the elimination of the following two features: - Waterway menus on the Weather Forecast Office data view web pages - River at a Glance tab on the hydrograph webpages Additional information on alternative content or functionality, if available, is provided in the Service Description Document linked below. Tabular data, eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds on the hydrograph webpages have all been replaced by a new application programming interface (API) service. Webinars on the NWPS are being conducted which summarize the changes and use of the new interface. Information on webinars, and their available recordings, regarding use of NWPS will be noted at: https://weather.gov/owp/operations. The NWS is requesting comments on: (1) the replacement NWPS website, which can be previewed at: https://preview.water.noaa.gov/, and (2) the new NWPS API services, which can be previewed at: https://preview-api.water.noaa.gov/v1/docs/. For reference, the current AHPS website URL is: https://water.weather.gov. For additional details, please see the Service Description Document at: https://nsdesk.servicenowservices.com/api/g_noa/nwspc/res2/8cfcc0991b a6f91 0ee15a7dbe54bcb66 Pending approval of the replacement of AHPS by the NWPS, the NWS will issue a Service Change Notice (SCN) detailing when the NWPS website will be deployed operationally. This deployment is expected in March 2024. The SCN will specify the transition period from AHPS to NWPS, during which the current AHPS webpage would run in parallel with the new NWPS webpage for 60 days to enable users to transition to NWPS. At the end of this transition period, AHPS will be retired. The NWS will evaluate comments during this period and will determine any additional need for changes based on public feedback. Please provide feedback through the NWS survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ExpNWPSwebsite_2023 For more information, please contact: Charles Ross, Hydrologist, Water Resources Services Branch Analyze, Forecast, Support Office or Fernando Salas, Director, Geo-Intelligence Division Office of Water Prediction, National Water Center nwps.webmaster@noaa.gov National Public Information Statements are online at: https://www.weather.gov/notification/