NWS Northern Indiana Public Zone Reconfiguration

NOTE: The date of this change has changed.
The new date is September 13th, 2022 at 4:00 PM EDT

Zone Changes

Effective 4 PM EDT, Wednesday, September 13, 2022, four county public forecast zones for the National Weather Service Northern Indiana office (IWX) will be reconfigured into different zones. Please read the overview sections below for details or if you prefer, jump to the images or table below.

Overview (public zones)

The National Weather Service Northern Indiana office (IWX) will add 4 new county segments within our land area for the County Warning Area (CWA).

Complete Service Change notification is available online.

In Michigan

Berrien county will be split into northern Berrien and southern Berrien along 42.0° N.

In Indiana

La Porte county will be split into northern La Porte and southern La Porte along US Highway 6
St. Joseph county will be split into western St. Joseph and eastern St. Joseph just west of South Bend along 86.358 W
Kosciusko county will be split into northern Kosciusko and southern Kosciusko along US Highway 30.

Zone Changes

Figure 1: Current Zone Alignment

reconfigured public zones (September 2022)

Figure 2: New zone alignment changes.

Justification
Climatologically, several counties across northern Indiana and southwest Michigan are affected by lake effect snow events, depending on prevailing wind direction off lake Michigan. This climatology of lake effect snows provides unique boundaries that can assist in dividing the county into additional zones that will more accurately represent forecast weather and expected hazards.

Table 1: WFO IWX Affected Public Weather Forecast Zones

Current Zone Name / Current UGZ (Z)	New Public Zone Name / New UGZ (Z)
Berrien (MIZ077)	Northern Berrien (MIZ177) Southern Berrien (MIZ277)
La Porte (INZ003)	Northern La Porte (INZ103) Southern La Porte (INZ203)
St. Joseph (INZ004)	Eastern St. Joseph (INZ104) Western St. Joseph (INZ204)
Kosciusko (INZ016)	Northern Kosciusko (INZ116) Southern Kosciusko (INZ216)

Table 2: WFO IWX Products Affected by These Changes

Product Name	WMO Header	AWIPS ID
Special Weather Statement	WWUS83 KIWX	SPSIWX
Zone Forecast Product	FPUS53 KIWX	ZFPIWX
Hazardous Weather Outlook	FLUS43 KIWX	HWOIWX
Non-Precipitation Watch/Warning/Advisory	WWUS73 KIWX	NPWIWX
Winter Weather Watch/Warning/Advisory	WWUS43 KIWX	WSWIWX
Area Forecast Matrices	FOUS53 KIWX	AFMIWX
Point Forecast Matrices	FOUS53 KIWX	PFMIWX
Fire Weather Message	FNUS53 KIWX	FWFIWX
Fire Weather Watch/Red Flag Warning	WWUS83 KIWX	RFWIWX
Flood Watch/Warning/Advisory	WGUS63 KIWX	FFAIWX
Hydrologic Outlook	FGUS73 KIWX	ESFIWX
Hydrologic Statement	FGUS83 KIWX	RVSIWX
Hydrologic Summary	SRUS43 KIWX	RVAIWX
Daily River and Lake Summary	FGUS53 KIWX	RVDIWX
Public Information Statement	NOUS43 KIWX	PNSIWX
Area Forecast Discussion	FXUS63 KIWX	AFDIWX
Air Quality Alert	AEUS73 KIWX	AQAIWX
Surf Zone Forecast	FZUS53 KIWX	SRFIWX
Coastal Hazard Message	WHUS43 KIWX	CFWIWX

If you are affected by these changes, take the appropriate action so your system(s) recognize the new zone (Z) Universal Geographic Codes (UGC) and the new zone alignments.

Shape Files

Updated public and fire zone map shapefiles are available for download

at: https://www.weather.gov/gis/PublicZones

The proposed changes to the IWX zone boundaries have been closely coordinated with local partners and customers to be ready for implementation on September 12th, 2022.

If you have any questions concerning this change, please contact:

Michael Lewis
Warning Coordination Meteorologist

National Weather Service Northern Indiana
7506 E 850 N
Syracuse, IN 46567
574-834-1104

Kimberly McMahon
Public Weather Services Program Leader
NOAA National Weather Service
Forecast Services Division/Analyze, Forecast, and Support Office
Silver Spring, MD 200910
301-337-1844