Section 6. Aviation Area Forecast (FA)

9-6-1. GENERAL

a. Aviation Area Forecasts (FA) are available through the WMSC and provide an overview of weather conditions which could impact aviation operations. FAs are issued by the National Aviation Weather Advisory Unit (NAWAU) in Kansas City, Missouri, for the conterminous U.S. land and coastal waters by areas (Pacific Coast, Rocky Mountain, North-Central U.S., South-Central U.S., Northeast U.S., Southeast U.S.). The areas are delineated along state boundaries and are specified in the NWS Operations Manual, Chapter D-20. The FAs for Alaska and Hawaii are issued by the WSFOs located in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii. The geographical areas of coverage for the appropriate WSFOs are specified in Chapter D-20 of the NWS Operations Manual. (Canadian and Mexican FAs are also available through the WMSC.)

b. FAs consist of two sections with each section being transmitted with a unique communications header. This allows each section to be replaced when needed instead of amending or correcting the affected FA, to provide a current and complete area forecast. Inflight advisories (including WSTs) amend the FA; however, when necessary, the appropriate section of the FA will be replaced by the issuing NWS office. The two FA sections and their communications headers are as follows (iii denotes the FA location identifier; e.g., ANC, CHI, etc.):

1. iiiS-Synopsis.

2. iiiI-Icing and Freezing Level.

3. iiiT-Turbulence.

4. iiiC-Significant Clouds and Weather.

9-6-2. AVIATION AREA FORECAST (FA) SCHEDULE

a. FAs are prepared three times a day in the contiguous 48 States and Alaska, and four times a day in Hawaii. All scheduled transmission times are in UTC and listed by daylight/standard times. The times in the contiguous U.S. are in TBL 9-6-1.

TBL 9-6-1
Area Forecast Schedule

b. The Alaska and Pacific NWS Regional Headquarters have authority to schedule FAs to meet user requirements. These are issued at the following times. (See TBL 9-6-2.)

TBL 9-6-2
Alaska/Pacific Area Forecast Schedule

c. The Gulf FA is prepared twice daily. The issuance times in UTC or Z depend on whether LDT/LST is in effect and are as follows:

1. 1st issuance 1040/1140.

2. 2nd issuance 1740/1840.

9-6-3. DISTRIBUTION

Distribution of FAs is made by WMSC in accordance with a predetermined list for each circuit based upon intracircuit coordinated requirements.