AWIPS is the final element in the $4.5 billion NWS Modernization Program. The Hourly Weather Roundup (HWR) is an integral part of AWIPS Build 4.2 and is the latest version of a program whose roots can be traced back to the Automation of Forecast Operations and Services (AFOS) computer and product display system.
The new HWR program automates the process of summarizing both station and marine observations each hour for dissemination over both the NOAA Weather Wire Service (NWWS) and the NOAA Weather Radio (NWR). Automating this labor-intensive process will not only save resources, but will also create consistency among forecast offices, yet still permit each office to tailor the output to its user community.
The weather summary for the NWWS is a tabular product consisting of numerous meteorological variables such as temperature, wind direction and speed, pressure, visibility, weather, and cloud cover. The NWR weather summary is a subset of the information contained in the NWWS product because of time limitations imposed by broadcast constraints and is a text product that will be transferred to the Console Replacement System for dissemination.
Setup, configuration, and execution of the new HWR are simplified through
the use of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs). The new GUIs allow users
to choose the stations, meteorological elements, and thresholds that
will be summarized. In addition, the forecasters will have the means
for changing the broadcast text format of the NWR product. Once the
HWR program is configured, it will produce weather summaries with no
intervention required by the user